The UK Government has been ‘third time lucky’ with the European Commission (EC) in terms of EU legal limits on dangerous airborne particles (PM10) in London, avoiding legal action for breaches of the pollutant from 2005-2011, a Freedom of Information request revealed today.
But the EC said it will not tolerate breaches of air quality limits from June 2011 onwards. The Government now faces the threat of huge fines – possibly hundreds of millions of euros – if legally binding PM10 standards are not met across the whole of the UK.
The EC had partially rejected two previous applications for a back-dated time extension for dealing with high PM10 levels. It finally granted the time extension after the government set out a series of temporary measures to tackle air pollution in London.
PM10 is released from vehicle exhausts and fossil fuel burning and is associated with serious health issues such as heart and lung disease and a significant number of premature deaths.
James Grugeon, CEO of Environmental Protection UK, said, “It’s time the government stopped making excuses and tinkering around the edges. The UK needs a national strategy on air pollution that will ensure that it fully complies with air quality laws.
“The temporary measures put in place by the government and the Mayor of London in order to be granted this time extension are experimental at best and will have no guarantee of success. We need proper long-term strategic thinking from across government to end the public health crisis cause by air pollution.”
“If we carry on as we are not only will we face significant fines but much more importantly we are condemning vulnerable older people to premature deaths and children to serious long term health effects from exposure to dangerous air pollution.”
Further Information.
The European Commission announced that the UK’s 2nd Time Extension Application for meeting PM10 Limit Values in London and Gibraltar had been successful. The time extension is, however, ‘temporary and conditional’. The Commission’s press release on the decision can be read at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/pdf/uk2_en.pdf
The Commission’s press release can be read here: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/285&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
