Your guide to the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal Environmental Impact Statement Contents The Environmental Impact Statement 1 Why we need a new terminal 1 Why Moorebank 3 Moorebank Intermodal Company’s role 4 Relationship to SIMTA 4 Terminal concept plan 5 The impacts and mitigation 6 Have your say on the EIS 20 In seeking these approvals, the EIS assesses the The Environmental impacts that the terminal is likely to have on the local area and wider environment. This involved a Impact Statement thorough review of all potential environmental and The Australian Government is proposing an social impacts of the proposed concept design. intermodal terminal at Moorebank to better manage The review was based on the conditions of highest growth in freight while reducing the growth in trucks impact to ensure effects can be managed under all on our roads. As part of the planning for the terminal, scenarios. The EIS considers all the following issues: an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has • Traffic, transport and access; been prepared. • Noise and vibration; • Biodiversity; What is an EIS? • Hazards and risks; An EIS is a formal process used to understand the • Contamination and soils; positive and negative consequences of a proposed development. It is used by approval bodies to enable • Hydrology, groundwater and water quality; them to decide if the development should proceed or • Local and regional air quality; not. If the development is approved, the EIS is used • Greenhouse gas assessment; by approval bodies to decide what measures are • Aboriginal and European heritage; needed to ensure the development does not impact • Visual and urban design; the surrounding area unacceptably. • Property and infrastructure; What does the EIS do? • Social and economic impacts; The EIS for the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal • Human health risks and impacts; is seeking: • Waste and resources management. • NSW Government approval of the terminal concept – a project approval for the terminal’s detailed design is also needed before Why we need a construction begins; new terminal • NSW Government approval to start some early works, like decontaminating the land and • It will enable more freight to move to and from establishing a conservation zone; and Port Botany by rail instead of road, which will allow • Commonwealth Government approval to develop our imports and exports to continue to grow; the terminal. • it will allow more freight to move between NSW and other states by rail, which will reduce costs and growth of trucks on our highways; • it will allow more freight to get closer to its destination in west and south-west Sydney without using the road network, which will slow the growth in traffic congestion; and • rail freight has lower social and environmental costs (e.g. costs of road accidents and greenhouse emissions). Environmental Impact Statement exhibition – information booklet | 1 If these issues are not addressed they will add costs to the freight supply chain and, in turn, to the cost of goods. There would also be an increase in the economic, WARWICK FARM environmental and social impacts of road congestion in Sydney. The terminal is one of a number LIVERPOOL of intermodal terminals needed to manage the increased number of containers expected to come LIVERPOOL through Sydney in the long term. MOOREBANK The terminal will have economic, SOUTH WESTERN MOTORWAY (M5) social and environmental benefits, including: M7 MOTORWAY CASULA • Close to $9 billion in economic benefits over 30 years. CASULA This includes $120 million HUME HIGHWAY a year for south-west Sydney through improved WATTLE GROVE HOLSWORTHY productivity, reduced costs GLENFIELD EAST HILLS RAILWAY LINE of road damage, congestion and accidents, and better GLENFIELD environmental outcomes. GEORGESRIVER MAIN SOUTH RAILWAY LINE MAIN SOUTH RAILWAY LINE MACQUARIE FIELDS HOLSWORTHY 0 500 1000 RAILWAY LINE HIGHWAY Metres POTENTIAL RAILWAY LINE MOTORWAY TRAIN STATION RIVER SUBURB Terminal location: This map shows the terminal location near the M5 and M7 Motorways, and the Southern Sydney freight rail line. 2 | Environmental Impact Statement exhibition – information booklet • Up to 3,000 fewer truck journeys to and from What the intermodal terminal will do Port Botany each day. • Creation of as many as 1,500 jobs during Interstate Intermodal facilities container loading & unloading Warehouse & construction and around 2,200 long-term Port Botany packing/unpacking facilities jobs when the terminal is fully operational in about 2030. • Enabling the movement of growing freight Frieght rail volumes around Australia. FAQ – What is an intermodal terminal and what does it do? Container storage Heavy transport vehicles Transport vehicles An intermodal terminal is an ‘inland port’, where To/from road network & local shipping containers, which arrive by rail, are markets (shops and employers) unloaded and their contents distributed via truck to their final destination. Where container freight is headed in 2013 Why Moorebank The site at Moorebank is an ideal location for an intermodal terminal to handle both interstate and import-export freight. This is because it is: • long enough for interstate freight trains, which can be 1.5 km to 1.8 km long; • big enough to handle the number of containers expected – 1.05 million containers a year of import-export freight and another 500,000 containers of interstate freight; • next to the dedicated freight rail line that provides a direct link to the interstate freight network and Port Botany; • next to the M5 Motorway, and near the M7 Motorway and Hume Highway; • next to existing industrial areas, and close to major freight markets in west and south-west Sydney; • sufficiently far from Port Botany to make rail a viable alternative to trucks; • owned by the Australian Government. No other available site in south-western Sydney has these attributes. Environmental Impact Statement exhibition – information booklet | 3 import-export intermodal terminal only (i.e., unlike Moorebank Intermodal the MIC terminal, it does not include an interstate Company’s role intermodal terminal). An EIS for the concept of SIMTA’s proposed Moorebank Intermodal Company (MIC) is facilitating terminal has been approved by the Commonwealth the development of the Moorebank Intermodal Minister for the Environment. The terminal concept Terminal. MIC is an Australian Government business. has also been approved, with modifications, by A key part of MIC’s role is to select a private sector the NSW Planning Assessment Commission. operator for the terminal. The modifications include an annual 250,000 MIC must also ensure that the Government’s container limit on stage one of the development. policy objectives for the terminal are achieved. Subsequent development applications may be The objectives include that the terminal must submitted to increase the limit to 500,000 containers satisfy interstate, regional and import-export freight per year, if it can be shown that the transport needs; and be an open access facility that fosters network can support the additional throughput. competition among users of the terminal. Precinct opportunities MIC also has objectives to: MIC is currently negotiating with SIMTA to determine • attract employment and investment to west and whether it might be appointed to operate the south-western Sydney; Moorebank Intermodal Terminal. The negotiation is • achieve sound environmental and social exploring opportunities to enhance the Moorebank outcomes that are considerate of community freight precinct by combining the land for the MIC views; and terminal with the land owned by SIMTA. Combining • optimise value for money for the Commonwealth. the sites could provide more space for onsite warehousing, and help optimise the layout. FAQ – Why can’t the terminal be built at Eastern Creek or Badgerys Creek? If MIC and SIMTA can agree suitable terms for the development and operation of the terminal, there The growth in demand for overseas goods means will be a single terminal. It would handle the same a number of intermodals will be required in Sydney. volume of containers as proposed for the Moorebank Eastern Creek and Badgerys Creek may be suitable Intermodal Terminal; that is, 1.05 million containers sites in the future, but they need connections to of import-export freight and 500,000 containers of freight railway lines. Badgerys Creek may be too interstate freight each year at full capacity. far from freight markets for a commercially viable intermodal operation. The railway line from Port Botany places a practical constraint on the volume of import-export freight that can be handled at Moorebank. This constraint is Relationship to SIMTA created by the capacity of the railway infrastructure and expected demand from other users of the Separate from MIC’s proposal for the Moorebank railway line. It means the Moorebank area can Intermodal Terminal, SIMTA (the Sydney Intermodal only receive 1.05 million containers a year, so any Terminal Alliance, which comprises the logistics intermodal terminal at Moorebank, including a business Qube Holdings and the rail operator combined MIC-SIMTA terminal, would be limited to Aurizon) has proposed to build an intermodal terminal this number of import-export containers. on land opposite MIC’s site, on the eastern side of Moorebank Avenue. SIMTA’s proposal includes an 4 | Environmental Impact Statement exhibition – information booklet Terminal Proposed site for the Site for the relocation of Moorebank Intermodal the existing Defence concept