Key players discuss ongoing air quality problems

Ealing Council and the Environment Agency will hold more joint inspections of Horn Lane in an effort to improve air quality.

That was one of the agreements following a summit with key players held at City Hall .

The Environment Agency met with Defra, the Greater London Authority (GLA), Transport for London (TfL), Network Rail, Crossrail and the London Borough of Ealing on June 17th.

The summit was arranged after the air quality monitoring station, run by Ealing Council, continued to record a number of days with very high concentrations of particulate matter (PM10).

A strategy has now been agreed which will detail all the sources of particulate pollution, the authority responsible for its regulation, what is being done to reduce the emissions, and when the work should be completed by. The two main regulatory bodies, the Environment Agency and London Borough of Ealing, have agreed to start weekly inspections with an additional joint visit every month.

Ealing is primarily responsible for air quality in the borough with the partner organisations only becoming involved when sources of air pollution they regulate are demonstrated to be contributing to the pollution. However, since 2006 all the members of the partnership say they have been making significant contributions and investing resources to the overall improvements at Horn Lane.

The Environment Agency will be providing additional monitoring equipment and data management services to allow all partners to target improvements more effectively - which they say is over and above their statutory duty.

Chris Lowe, a Pollution and Prevention Control Officer at the Environment Agency, said:

''The sites the Environment Agency regulates already have bespoke permit conditions designed to control and minimise the potential for particulates to be generated. We are currently visiting the sites much more frequently to ensure they comply with the permit conditions at all times. This reinvigorated partnership will now allow all partners to focus actions on the various pollution sources and make sure improvements are realised.''

John Freeman, Team Leader of the Pollution Technical Team at the London Borough of Ealing, said: “We are determined to take every possible step to achieve further progress in reducing air pollution in Horn Lane. It is vital that the gains made so far are not only sustained but are built upon as rapidly as possible through effective action across all the sites concerned. We look forward to working with our partners to make sure this happens.''

Matthew Pencharz, the Mayor of London’s Environment Advisor, said: “We strongly support the work of the partnership and we are pleased to see the various organisations working together to tackle the sources of particulate pollution.

“Air quality in London is a significant priority for the GLA and the Mayor will be offering the full support of the GLA and Transport for London to this renewed partnership.

Ealing Central and Acton MP, Angie Bray, discussed the 'outrageously high levels' of pollution around Horn Lane in a Westminster debate - read in full here

3rd July 2013