Chap 6 Air Quality FINAL
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6. Air quality South London ERF Viridor Chapter 6: Air quality 6 Air quality Introduction 6.1 This chapter presents the results of an assessment carried out by RWDI and Gair Consulting Ltd of the impacts on local air quality arising from the construction and operation of the proposed Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) at the proposed development site. 6.2 The proposed development will have potential implications for local air quality through emission to atmosphere principally from the following sources: • Construction activities, including vehicle movements • Vehicle movements associated with the delivery of waste and the removal of ash • The flue gases emitted through the chimney stacks 6.3 In comparison, all other possible sources associated with the proposed development are minor and unlikely to represent a significant impact, although their potential to release pollutants or odours is considered in this report. 6.4 Key data sources referred to in carrying out the air quality assessment include those set out in table 6.1. Directive 2000/76/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 December 2000 on the incineration of waste Croydon Council (2007) Standards and Requirements for Improving Local Air Quality - Interim Policy Guidance Directive 2008/50/ECof the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe Guidelines for Halogen and Hydrogen Halides in Ambient Air for Protecting Human Health Against Acute Irritancy Effects, EPAQS (February 2006) Addendum to Guidelines for Halogen and Hydrogen Halides in Ambient Air, EPAQS (May 2009) Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2001) Environmental Protection The Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Directive 2008/50/EC World Health Organisation WHO, Air quality Guidelines 2000 Guidelines for Metals and Metalloids in Ambient Air for the Protection of Human Health, EPAQS (May 2009) Environment Agency H1 adopted from the UN Economic and Social Council, Executive Body for the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution Environment Agency Horizontal Guidance Note H1, Annex (f) -Air emissions, Version 2.2, August 2010 IAQM (2010) Development Control: Planning for Air Quality (2010 Update) Targeted Application of Calcium Magnesium Acetate (CMA) Pilot Study Monitoring Report, URS Corp Ltd for Transport for London, July 2011 http://laqm.defra.gov.uk/review-and-assessment/tools/background-maps.html UK Soil and Herbage Pollutant Survey, SHS Report 10 Environmental Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans in UK soil and herbage, June 2007 Alloway BJ (1995) Heavy Metals in Soils published by Blackie Academic Terence O’Rourke Ltd 227701 July 2012 South London ERF Viridor Chapter 6: Air quality IAQM (2012) Guidance on the Assessment of Impacts of Construction on Air Quality and the Determination of their Significance v1.1 Environment Agency (2011) Guidance to Applicants on Impact Assessment for Group 3 Metals Stack Releases- V2 June 2011 Defra (2011) Emissions from Waste Management Facilities: Frameworks for Assessment of Data Quality and Research Needs – WR 0608 (prepared by Environmental Resources Management Ltd) Table 6.1: Data sources Legislation and policy National policy 6.5 National planning policy, in the form of the National Planning Policy Framework, has relatively little to say about air quality directly. Paragraph 124 notes that compliance with air quality limit values and objectives should be achieved and that the presence of Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) should be accounted for. Reference is made to new development in AQMAs being consistent with local action plans for air quality. 6.6 AQMAs are a product of the 1995 Environment Act Part IV, which introduced the concept of Local Air Quality Management (LAQM). This has required local authorities to measure air quality and assess air quality in relation to national air quality objectives. In places where compliance is not achieved, or where compliance is threatened, an action plan must be prepared that defines measures to improve air quality. 6.7 In 1997, the Government adopted its first Air Quality Strategy, setting out an analysis of existing air quality for eight key pollutants and setting out a series of measures to improve concentrations of these pollutants in the future. The Strategy has been successively updated, with the most recent version being published in 2007. No specific reference is made to waste management facilities in this document and its references to planning policy have now been overtaken by the introduction of the National Planning Policy Framework. National and European legislation 6.8 Ambient air quality is regulated through European Directives that set limit values on the concentrations of key pollutants. EU limit values have legal force and are intended to apply at all locations where public exposure might occur. The air quality objectives for England and Wales, as set out in the Air Quality Strategy, and are very similar to the EU limit values in most cases, in terms of their threshold concentrations. 6.9 Emissions of some pollutants are regulated at the national level through a number of European Union Directives. The National Emissions Ceilings Directive sets the UK a limit for emission of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2), ammonia (NH3) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). 6.10 The UK is a signatory to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), first adopted in 2001 and entering into force in 2004. POPs are substances that are found in pesticides, industrial chemicals, including poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and unintentional by products, which Terence O’Rourke Ltd 227701 July 2012 South London ERF Viridor Chapter 6: Air quality include dioxins and furans (known more properly as poly chlorinated dibenzo- p-dioxins and poly chlorinated dibenzofurans). The Convention seeks to protect the environment from the exposure to POPs by restricting, and ultimately eliminating, their production, use, trade, release and storage. 6.11 Control of industrial emissions is governed by the Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU), which has yet to be transposed into UK law. This new directive includes seven existing directives, one of which is on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), which forms the basis for the regulation of industrial facilities, such as the ERF. The IPPC Directive has been implemented in England and Wales through a permitting system, operated by the Environment Agency. In order for an installation to operate legally, the operator must apply for and be granted a permit. 6.12 An application to the Environment Agency for a permit to operate the South London ERF will be made at approximately the same time as planning permission is sought. This allows the Environment Agency to engage fully with Viridor on the ERF technology. 6.13 The design and operation of all new waste incineration facilities must ensure compliance with emission limit values (ELVs) set out in the Waste Incineration Directive (WID) recently incorporated into the Industrial Emissions Directive. The Waste Incineration Directive (2000/76/EC) aims to reduce the impact of waste incineration on human health and the environment. The directive applies to incineration and co-incineration plants which burn waste as defined in the Waste Framework Directive. The WID was transposed into UK law via the Waste Incineration (England and Wales) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002 No, 2980), which came into force on 28 December 2002. The WID ELVs applicable to the proposed ERF are summarised in table 6.2. 30-minute mean Substance Daily mean 100th percentile 97th percentile Particles 10 30 10 Nitrogen Dioxide 200 400 200 Sulphur Dioxide 50 200 50 Carbon Monoxide 50 100 (b) 150 (c) Hydrogen Fluoride 1 4 2 Hydrogen Chloride 10 60 10 Total Organic Carbon (TOC) 10 20 10 Group I metals - Cd and Tl (d) 0.05 Group II metals - Hg (d) 0.05 Group II metals - Sb, As, Pb, Cr, Co, 0.5 Cu, Mn, Ni and V (d) Dioxins and Furans 0.1 ng I-TEQ m-3 Table 6.2: Waste Incineration Directive Emission Limit Values (mg Nm-3) (a) (a) Units are mg Nm-3 (273K, dry and 11% O2) unless stated otherwise (b) 100th percentile of half-hourly average concentrations in any 24-hour period (c) 95th percentile of ten-minute average CO concentrations (d) Average over a sample period between 30 minutes and 8-hours Terence O’Rourke Ltd 227701 July 2012 South London ERF Viridor Chapter 6: Air quality Greater London and London Borough policies 6.14 Through the Mayor’s office, London is able to promote distinctive policies on land use planning and air quality that may enhance the objectives of national and European policies. 6.15 The most recent version of the Mayor’s Air Quality Strategy was published in December 2010. Much of the strategy, and the policies it promotes, is focused on road transport emissions, since this sector contributes most to the air quality problems in London. Waste management does not feature strongly in the strategy, although recognition is given to the fact that some waste management sites in the capital have been shown to be locations where PM10 concentrations are elevated, sometimes through the re-suspension of street dust by vehicles. The policy adopted is to deploy targeted measures at such locations and this has resulted in dust suppressant being used along some roads where PM10 concentrations are a problem. 6.16 The London Plan, published in July 2011, sets