ROADS AND MARITIME SERVICES

M5 EAST MOTORWAY

AIR QUALITY READINGS ABOVE GOAL

26 FEBRUARY 2015

ASSESSMENT REPORT

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 3

INCIDENT 26 FEBRUARY 2015 – PM10 ......................................................................... 3

ASSESSMENT VS 73/4 PROTOCOL ............................................................................. 4

APPENDIX 1 READINGS FROM ROADS AND MARITIME WEBSITE REAL-TIME UNVALIDATED DATA .................................................................................................... 5

APPENDIX 2 NOTIFICATIONS OF READING ABOVE GOAL ....................................... 9

APPENDIX 3 VALIDATED DATA ..................................................................................10

APPENDIX 4 SYDNEY WIDE OEH DATA – 24 HOUR AVERAGE PM10 DATA............11

APPENDIX 5 VENTILATION STACK DATA .................................................................12

APPENDIX 6 PHOTO OF THE AQMS STATION 2 .......................................................12

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Introduction Air quality readings above the goal were recorded on 26 February 2015 at one of the M5 East Motorway Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (AQMS). The readings related to

PM10 greater than the ambient 24-hr average goal of 50 g/m3 at Station 2 which is located on the corner of Wavell Parade and David Street, Earlwood (formerly known as X1).

Assessment of the incident has shown that it is unrelated to the M5 East Motorway and a localised event caused the high level of PM10.

Incident 26 February 2015 – PM10 Readings above the 24-hour average PM10 air quality goal were recorded at the AQMS Station 2 on 26 February 2015. Details of the validated and unvalidated results for the period are shown in Table 1 below. The daily unvalidated average from the Roads and Maritime website is shown in Appendix 1.

Particulate (PM10) Concentrations Measured at M5 East

Air Quality Monitoring Stations

(24-hour Average - µg/m3)

Date Station 2 Station 3 Station 4 Station 5

26/02/2015 Unvalidated 57 16 16 20

Validated 57.3 15.7 15.7 19.7

Table 1 Unvalidated and Validated PM10 readings for 26 February 2015

Readings shown in red were above the PM10 air quality standard of 50 µg/m3.

Appendix 1 shows the daily unvalidated data for AQMS 2 on 26 February 2015 and Appendix 2 shows the alarm email sent through as notification of the exceedance. In accordance with the requirements of the M5 East Motorway DUAP Condition 73/4 Protocol, the air quality reading above the goal at the M5 East AQMS was found to have been caused by a localised event.

The M5 East Motorway is not considered to be the cause of the readings being above the goal on 26 February 2015.

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Assessment vs 73/4 protocol The following actions have been carried out in accordance with the M5 East Motorway DUAP Condition 73/4 Protocol:

1. Planning NSW and EPA were notified by e-mail within one day of the monitoring indicating that readings above the goal of the 24 hour PM10 air quality goal had occurred (Appendix 3).

2. Quality validation of the data was undertaken confirming that the TEOM 24 hour average reading was above the 50 µg/m3 ambient air quality goal for fine particulates (PM10) at ground level (Appendix 2).

3. Information was obtained from The Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) air quality monitoring sites in the Sydney Basin via the OEH website to determine whether the reading above the goal were caused by a Sydney wide event. The OEH monitored results and published data confirmed that there was no regional event on the day that had an adverse impact on air quality (Appendix 4).

4. On obtaining confirmation that an extraordinary event had occurred an assessment was prepared and submitted to Planning NSW and EPA.

List of Appendices 1. RMS website unvalidated data for the 25 and 26 February

2. Email notifications of the reading above goal

3. Validated data for the 26 February

4. Sydney Wide OEH data – 24 hour PM10 data

5. AQMS 2 Photo

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APPENDIX 1 Readings from Roads and Maritime website real-time unvalidated data Note: These figures have not been validated.

Figure 1 Station 2 (X1) – Hourly average readings for previous 24 hours

Figure 2 Station 2 (X1) – Hourly average readings for 24 hours on 26/02/2015

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Figure 3 Station 3 (U1) – Hourly average readings for 24 hours on 26/02/2015

Figure 4 Station 3 (U1) – Hourly average readings for 24 hours on 26/02/2015

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Figure 5 Station 4 (T1) – Hourly average readings for 24 hours on 26/02/2015

Figure 6 Station 4 (T1) – Hourly average readings for 24 hours on 26/02/2015

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Figure 7 Station 5 (CBMS) – Hourly average readings for 24 hours on 26/02/2015

Figure 8 Station 5 (CBMS) – Hourly average readings for 24 hours on 26/02/2015

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APPENDIX 2 Notifications of Reading above Goal From: m5eastair@rta.nsw.gov.au [mailto:m5eastair@rta.nsw.gov.au] Sent: Friday, 27 February 2015 2:28 AM To: m5eastair Cc: BORKMAN Lee Subject: M5 East Air Quality - EXCEEDANCE There were reads above the air quality goal at the M5 East Motorway ambient air quality monitoring stations on Thu Feb 26 01:00:00 2015. Reading Station Value PM10 average X1 57 Data validity checks are being undertaken to determine if the recorded levels are valid or due to instrument error.

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APPENDIX 3 Validated Data

Date X1 PM10 (µg/m³)

U1 PM10 (µg/m³)

T1 PM10 (µg/m³)

CBMS PM10 (µg/m³)

26/02/2015 00:00

57.3 15.7 15.7 19.7

Figure 9 Validated Data PM10 24 hour average from 5 min data for AQMS 2

X1 – Station 2 U1 – Station 3 T1 – Station 4 CBMS – Station 5

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APPENDIX 4 Sydney Wide OEH Data – 24 hour average PM10 data

Figure 10 OEH 24-hour summary of pollutant concentrations measured at air quality monitoring sites

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APPENDIX 5 Photo of the AQMS Station 2 The M5 East Motorway Service Provider undertook a site investigation to identify the likely cause of the exceedance. It appeared there was an active residential construction site at 1 David Street, Earlwood immediately north of the Wavell Parade (Station 2) Monitor shown in Figure 4.

Figure 11 Photo of AQMS 2, taken on 27 February 2015 at 13:43