The Mayor announced the measures last November whereby two of London’s most polluted sites were treated with a dust suppressant solution with the intention that it would stick to the carriageway and stop the dangerous PM10 particles from circulating in the air. The Mayor hailed this as a “wonderful contraption that tackles air quality head on” promising that it would “have an immediate impact on air quality in the most polluted areas of Central London”.
Last Thursday, the monitoring station at Marylebone Road recorded yet another “bad air day” for the 36th time this year alone and is now up to 40. This number exceeds the level of exceedances permitted by the EU for an entire year and comes 2 months earlier then it did last year.
Air quality in London is the worst in Europe and according to Boris Johnson himself contributes to the early deaths of more than 4,000 people in the city.
Murad Qureshi, Labour’s environment spokesman on the London Assembly, said: "The dust suppressant trial was simply a temporary measure by the Mayor to keep the EU off our backs with the threat of its £300million fine. I believe If Boris Johnson hadn’t abolished the Western Extension Zone, delayed the next phase of the Low emission zone applying to the most polluting vehicles and cancelled six monthly inspections for taxis then we would not be in such a bad state today”
Murad also says:
“ If the Mayor doesn’t take drastic action now, we are in serious danger of incurring major fines by the EU and confirming our position as the dirty man of Europe just before we host the Olympic games. This while London risks breaching our undertaking to the IOC with regards to air quality standards during the games”
Ends
Notes
The Mayor’s scheme was announced on the 12th November 2010
The EU exceedance is recorded on the London Air Quality Network website
Report of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the Games of the XXX Olympiad in 2012
For further information please contact Nikki Salih on 020 7983 4400