2M Group Urges European Environment Commissioner Dimas To Take Urgent Action Against Heathrow Pollution
to breach European limits.
expansion – of which the Royal Borough is a founder member – amid claims that
ministers have so far taken no action to improve air quality of the area despite
previously admitting that nitrogen levels around the airport were above permitted
levels.
on the 2M Group said: "Ministers have got themselves into a right muddle. They
know they are breaking EU law and damaging the health of UK citizens yet they
are still hell-bent on building a third runway.
a third runway, what hope is there when they’ve added an extra 125,000 flights."
limits set down in the 2008 Air Quality Directive which requires governments to
‘do their utmost to comply with EU standards in the shortest possible time’ and
set a deadline of January 1st 2010.
put in place the measures necessary to comply with EU law and protect human health.
want to build a third runway that can only make it worse. This shows a complete
disregard for the law and the wellbeing of local people.
and protect the health of people who live around the airport.”
from 480,000 movements a year to 605,000 by 2030.
EU limits for nitrogen dioxide were being exceeded ‘in a number of places, mainly
to the north and north east close to the airfield and around major roads including
the M4′.
admitting that the 2010 limits would be breached even without new development.
this should have been done before 1 January 2010 – which the UK Government has
not done. Any application must also be supported by an air quality action plan.
This should also include details of the efforts made to achieve compliance in
advance of the deadline.
environmental groups seeking to have the Government’s third runway decision declared
unlawful. An application for judicial review will begin in the High Court on February
23. The action is also backed Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund, Campaign to Protect
Rural England, aircraft noise campaigners HACAN and Transport for London.
of Heathrow expansion on their communities. The group, which took its name from
the 2 million residents of the original 12 authorities, now has 24 members representing
a combined population of 5 million people.