Why we Should talk about the Zoo
Let's Not talk about the Zoo.
After all, the Comprehensive Impact Statement assures us it is 'more than 150
metres from the nearest construction activity'.
Linking Melbourne Authority expert witnesses have told this Panel that the Zoo
is located outside the project boundary and construction therefore (quote)
unlikely to affect its international reputation.
And the LMA Fact Sheet reads: The CIS found no significant impacts on the
animals are likely during construction or operation of the East West Link.
So they say.
How do they know this? Because we are told that the LMA and the Zoo
engaged in rigorous international research to discover similar projects doing no
harm to nearby urban zoos .
As for noise levels posing threats to the sensitive ears of elephants, hippos,
primates and other animals, the CIS notes that VicRoads most stringent noise
levels will be imposed. Furthermore, the successful bidder will work closely
with zoo officials to address any unanticipated problems.
In fact, given its location outside the project boundary, this is not even a
matter to trouble this Panel.
So they say.
Upon completion, LMA experts allege that the East West Link would actually
improve access to the Zoo.
Some might agree. But not if isn't there.
Farfetched?
Let's see. Now let's talk About the Zoo.
(Hold up photo drawing of Elliott Avenue exit ramps) .
1
This is an LMA photographic image with lines drawn showing two open cut exit
ramps outside the southeast corner wall of Melbourne Zoo.
Who can doubt but that this is major construction? Major construction not
more than 150 metres away. Not even more than 100 metres. But a scant 40
metres from an area where the Zoo is actively engaged in its mission to save
endangered species from extinction.
40 metres from the wall where the Zoo is hoping to mate recently secured
endangered pygmy hippos. And in close proximity to a variety of habitats and
sanctuaries for gorillas, elephants, rhinos, giraffes and other animals whose
hearing is far more sensitive than yours or mine.
Tram line 55 to be rerouted and it and the Upfield train line to be suspended
for who knows how long.
Further west, beginning 20 metres from the boundary of the Zoo, a car park for
hundreds of work vehicles and storage sites for tunnel excavation and road
construction machinery, extracted fill and materials.
The Urban Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment Technical Report states:
"The works areas during construction would have a temporary impact with a
range of existing patterns of movement diverted to temporary connections. The
area between Brens Drive and the edge of Melbourne Zoo would also form part
of the construction area. "
20 metres. Indeed, the Zoo is very much in the eye of the storm .
Short and long term, the Melbourne Zoo will no longer be contending just with
CityLink hundreds of metres away to the west, but with construction noise
and, upon completion, traffic noise on three fronts - east, west and south .
A veritable tunnel funnel of noise.
Now let's examine the rigour of international research conducted by LMA and
the Zoo concluding that zoo animals can thrive in close proximity to traffic and
exit ramps to what the LMA defines as a sensitive receptor.
2
Firstly, only staff staying overnight is mentioned in the CIS. The animals get
scant attention. Their fate will be decided by the Zoo in consultation with
whomever builds the road. Enough to give most people pause.
The Linking Melbourne Authority's Comprehensive Impact Statement cites a
tunnel under the Oregon Zoo to support its argument that there is likely to be
no significant impacts on the Zoo or its animals. And there's even a secondthe Yagiyama Zoo tunnel in Sendai, Japan.
But an examination reveals that these tunnels are chalk and cheese to what's
planned outside Melbourne Zoo. In fact, they are not road projects at all .
The Oregon tunnel built in the mid-1990s is a train subway passing 79 metres
underground with a lift to the surface.
However, in 2012 the Oregon Department of Transportation did suspend
works on a real highway project, a four month paving delay more than 250
metres away to avoid risk of miscarriage of one elephant at Oregon Zoo.
And that tunnel in Japan? The ironically titled East-West Subway Line Office in
Sendai City writes: Currently we are conducting research about what kind of
impact the construction of the East-West Subway Line could cause in the
surrounding environment. However, when itcomes to the impact on animals,
our research includes only wild ones, not the animals reared in the Yagiyama
Zoo.
Yet, the CIS cites the Oregon and Yagiyama zoos as representative of this
project but omits details about the depth of the tunnels, the comparative
infrequency of train arrivals and the closing down of highway construction for
four months so one elephant had a better chance of giving birth.
Very sloppy research and so easily refuted. Not a document to rely upon to
assess impacts on the future of the Zoo as home for endangered noise
sensitive animals and an icon of Victorian tourism.
East West Link noise funnel to the Melbourne Zoo.
According to authoritative international studies the anticipated noise levels
outside the Melbourne Zoo will, not might, create unacceptable health risks.
3
We all have heard that existing noise levels on the Eastern, Mo"nash an MBO
mentioned by Moreland Council are major issues and source of complaint from
residents in many municipalities.
These are valid because :
VicRoads allows noise levels to reach 6BdB{A) before noise barriers or other
measures are considered. Sections of tollways closer to the city under
Transurban management prescribe noise levels maximums of 63dB{A).
Such noise level distinctions are not trivial, they are crucial. World Health
Organization (WHO) Reports reveal a direct link between high decibel readings
and dangerous health risks to residents living near freeways and toll roads.
The 2011 WHO Report concluded that "there is sufficient evidence from large-
scale epidemiological studies linking the population's exposure to
environmental noise with adverse health effects. Therefore, environmental
noise should be considered not only as a cause of nuisance but also a concern
for public health and environmental health. "
The World Health Organization standard for Europe is 55 dB{A) as set by the
New South Wales road authority including works on the Northern Pacific
Highway. Far more stringent than Victoria even making adjustments for slight
variation in methodology.
Night Noise levels of critical concern to zoos and its animals
The 2009 WHO Night Noise guidelines for Europe set threshold values that, if
breached at night, would threaten human health causing increased risk of
cardiovascular disease, autism, sleep disturbance and loss productivity.
The annual average night exposure should not exceed.40 dB(A) outdoors, a
standard accepted in Europe and many other countries. These are the real
international standards.
It is not a stretch of imagination to conclude that this also applies to zoo
animals, many of which are much more sensitive to external noises beyond
human detection.
4
And what are the night-time levels in Victoria? We don't know. Vic Roads
doesn't take any measurements from midnight to 6am. Critical hours for zoo
animals whether asleep or nocturnal.
This is crucial information missing from the CIS. Certainly night-time noise
maximums should be required before building a major road work next our zoo.
And what about afterwards when noise, vibration and lights from tens of
thousands of vehicles are put on the road?
The CIS has tabled contour maps that suggest noise readings in excess of 67 dB
(A) at the southeast corner of the Zoo. This is an alarming reading and not one
easily mitigated.
The difference between 40 and 67 decibels are measured on a logarithmic
scale, so that noise 10 decibels louder are actually 10 times louder.
For animals in a zoo, like people trying to get a good night's sleep, the period
between midnight and 6am are crucial hours but at VicRoads they don't even
get a sounding.
Study needed before contract signed.
To conclude, it is essential that the LMA commission an acoustical impact
assessment for noise, vibration, light glare and demolition prior to
recommending a contract be signed to build this toll road .
Because there is the possibility that the danger of extinction may go beyond
the animals to include the Zoo itself.
To conduct such an assessment makes common sense. It's in any building
manual. First the assessment, then the project.
Yet the LMA insists that you cannot consider the impact on this Melbourne
icon because it is outside the project boundary.
But they would say that, wouldn't they? They want to build a road and
consequences on the Zoo and its mission to save endangered species from
extinction can wait till later.
Many people, groups and organisations beg to differ. I suggest that there is an
elephant in the room but Linking Melbourne Authority just can't see it.
5
I hope that this Panel will resist these LMA arguments and the dubious case
that they put forth in what can only be termed a CIS spruiking document.
Thank you for the opportunity to address this Panel today.
The presenter has worked with two councils (Boroondara & Moreland) seeking State Government
funding for better noise attenuation works resulting from complaints of residents living 500 metres or
more from freeways. I have worked in senior communications roles in local (Kingston Council) and
state government in Victoria (Health Victoria , DITR, Melbourne Water, Museums Victoria) and, in the
US , was an investigative reporter for The Miami Herald, Chief of Staff to three US Congressman and
Information Director of the US House of Representatives' Select Committee on Crime.
Michael Petit
Moreland Community Against
the East West Tunnel (MCAT)
203/ 1-3 Dods Street
Brunswick, Victoria
Melbourne, Australia 3056
(03) 9381 0015
mobile : 0417 354 169
email: [email protected]
6
Oregon Zoo's pregnant elephant makes ODOT's busy road
construction season a little wilder
Joseph Rose I Irose@oregon lan .com
Email the author I Follow on Twitter
on May 22. 2012 at 3:21 PM, updated November 26, 2012 at 5:28 PM
View f"]) sjzeRose-Tu is in the middle of her 22-month pregnancy at the Oregon Zoo.
Oregon transportation officials are used to scheduling noisy, earth-shaking roadwork so that it doesn't disturb salmon and peregrine falcons.
But pregnant elephants?
That was a new challenge for engineers and planners mapping out the best way to repave U.S. 26 from Portland's Sylvan interchange to Interstate 405 this
summer.
When Oregon Zoo elephant curator Bob Lee heard of the Department of Transportation's plan to rev up the project in June, he raised a caution flag on Rose-Tu's
behalf.
Rose-Tu, an Asian elephant at the Oregon Zoo, is pregnant and due to give birth in December. Some of the heaviest construction on U.S. 26 near the zoo will happen
during a critical period in the elephant's 22-month gestation period.
Elephants, Lee said, "are so tuned into the environment that they'll feel the vibrations in their feet and they have great hearing. We need to be careful."
ODOT said it has worked out a construction plan designed to "acclimate" Rose-Tu to the ruckus and make sure heavy machinery is at the furthest point possible when
her calf is born.
But the 2.2-mile repaving of the Sunset Highway near the zoo is the only project requiring "special accommodations for the neighborhood" due to Rose-Tu's
pregnancy.
"We knew she was expecting," said ODOT spokesman Don Hamilton, "but we were not aware of the impact that the noise and vibrations might have until the zoo
brought it up."
Although the Oregon Zoo has one of North America's most successful elephant-breeding programs, stillbirths and deaths shortly after birth are prevalent in captivity.
The trick is to grind, repave and stripe one of the state's busiest highways without stressing out Rose-Tu.
ODOT has promised the zoo that the $4.8 million paving, set for both directions of U.S. 26, will begin in the eastbound lanes. "The eastbound lanes are furthest from
the zoo," Hamilton said. "This will allow Rose-Tu to grow accustomed to the noise."
What's more, between Nov. 1 and Feb 28, 2013, no work will be allowed in a nearly mile-long "buffer" zone near the zoo, ODOT said.
So, essentially, workers and machinery will gradually move toward the zoo and then move away.
Au~ust
the birth," he said.
2008 and Lee is confident her second delivery will go smoothly. "We just need to put a lot of cushion on each side of
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