Southend Borough Council. Local Air Quality Management Progress Report. April 2007

Transcription

1 Local Air Quality Management Progress Report April 2007

2 Report written by: Katherine Fox-Boudewijn Essex County Council Environment & Commerce Environment Strategy County Hall Chelmsford Essex CM1 1QH On behalf of: Southend Borough Council Environmental Health Department Civic Centre Victoria Avenue Southend on Sea SS2 6ER This report has been compiled as part of the Essex Air Quality Consortium Monitoring Network.

3 Contents 1. Introduction... 1 Outcomes of previous Review and Assessments for Southend Monitoring data... 2 Nitrogen dioxide... 3 Particulates (PM 10 ) Emission sources... 6 New Developments Planning and Policies Local Transport Plan Summary and Conclusions... 8 Tables Table 2.1: Monitoring results for Southend Chalkwell Park automatic monitoring site, Table 2.2 NO 2 Diffusion tube monitoring results (in µg/m 3 )... 3 Table 3.1 Industrial Emission Sources in Southend... 7 Figures Figure 2.1 Location of air quality monitoring sites in Southend... 5

4 1. Introduction This Progress Report is a requirement of the Environment Act 1995, Part IV, which places a duty on local authorities to periodically review and assess air quality within their location. The Progress Report follows on from the Updating and Screening Assessment (USA) which was carried out in 2006 as part of the third round of Review and Assessment. The USA report concluded that there is currently no risk of exceeding any of the air quality objectives and that a detailed assessment is not required for the current round of Review and Assessment. The objective of the Progress Report is to provide continuity in the Local Air Quality Management process by reporting any potential changes in air quality that may occur between the three yearly review and assessments of air quality. This report has been compiled with reference to the Progress Report Guidance (LAQM.PRG(03)) which was published by DeFRA in It presents information which has been collated since the production of the USA report, including: air quality monitoring data, information about emission sources and any proposed developments which have the potential to affect air quality in the Borough. Outcomes of previous Review and Assessments for Southend The First Round of review and assessments of air quality concluded that emissions from vehicles using the A127, A13 and A1159 roads were the main air quality issues in Southend. Small exceedences of the annual mean NO 2 objective and the 24 hour mean PM 10 objective were predicted at the busiest roadsides in the Council's area, but it was not necessary to declare any Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA) due to the absence of sensitive receptors. The USA reconsidered the seven health based air quality objectives and concluded that there was still no risk of exceedance. The Second Round of Review and Assessment also concluded that it was not necessary to declare any AQMAs. Therefore, there was no requirement to carry out a detailed assessment for the Second Round of Review and Assessment. The third round USA was completed in 2006 and revisited the results of previous assessments to determine whether there were any areas of concern for air quality within the Southend Borough. The USA concluded that there was still no risk of exceedance of the objectives, and therefore a Detailed Assessment is not required at this stage. 1

5 2. Monitoring data Southend Borough Council measures air quality in the Borough using one automatic air quality monitoring station as shown in figure 2.1. In addition, two automatic monitors were located on the A127 and on Eastern Avenue, although operation has been suspended following financial limitations. Re-introduction of these monitors is being reviewed as part of Southend Borough Council s Second Local Transport Plan activity. The automatic monitoring station is located in Chalkwell Park and has been operating since July The site is classified as urban background and measures concentrations of oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone and PM 10. This site is part of the UK Automatic Urban and Rural Network, which is operated on behalf of DEFRA. In addition to the continuous monitoring, there are 12 nitrogen dioxide diffusion tube monitoring sites located throughout the borough as part of a monitoring programme which has been operating since The locations of the diffusion tubes are also shown in figure 2.1. Table 2.1: Monitoring results for Southend Chalkwell Park automatic monitoring site, Pollutant Statistic Nitrogen Annual mean ( g/m 3 ) dioxide Max. 1 hour mean ( g/m 3 ) Exceedences of hourly objective Data capture (%) Particles (PM 10 ) Carbon monoxide Sulphur dioxide Annual mean Maximum 24 hour mean Exceedences of 24 hour mean objective Data capture (%) Annual mean Max daily running 8 hr mean Data capture Exceedences of 15 min mean objective Exceedences of hourly mean objective Exceedences of 24 hour mean objective Data capture

6 Table 2.2 NO 2 Diffusion tube monitoring results (in µg/m 3 ) Site NO2 mean (2004) NO2 mean (2005) NO2 mean (2006) bias adjusted* bias adjusted bias adjusted Hamlet Court Road Bournes Green Blyth Avenue Eastern Avenue York Road Bus Station Priory Crescent Westleigh Avenue Westbourne A Chalkwell Park (AURN) Queensway Southchurch * Bias adjustment applied to those sites with 75% or more data capture. The figures in italics have not been bias adjusted as they represent those sites with less than 75% data capture Southend Borough Council uses Essex University Laboratories as its diffusion tube supplier. The laboratory uses the 50% TEA 1 in acetone preparation method and participates in the Workplace Analysis Scheme for Proficiency (WASP) for NO 2 diffusion tube analysis and the Annual Field Inter-Comparison Exercise. Technical Guidance (LAQM.TG (03)) recommends co-location of diffusion tubes with an automatic analyser to ensure the accurate and representative reporting of NO 2 concentrations, with any positive or negative local bias taken into account. The diffusion tube results and bias used for tubes until 2005 were reported in the Updating and Screening Assessment. Comparison of the monitoring results for the diffusion tube co-located at the automatic analyser shows that the diffusion tubes over-read. A local diffusion tube bias correction factor of 0.63 has been calculated using the co-located tube at the automatic analyser, this accounts for the diffusion tube over-read in Nitrogen dioxide Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide at the continuous monitoring stations have been below objective limits since monitoring commenced. Concentrations increased in 2003, though levels remained below the annual mean objective. There were no exceedances of the hourly mean objective. Between 2004 and 2006 there were no exceedances of the hourly mean objective. The highest results occurred in 2005, although it was still below the objective level. The annual mean is also well below the objective level, although there is no clear 1 TEA-Triethanolamine 3

7 trend. The data capture at the automatic monitoring sites is high with 2003 being the year with the lowest capture and 2001 with the highest capture Diffusion tube monitoring results for 2003 show that the NO 2 annual mean objective was marginally exceeded at the Priory Crescent site, with an annual mean of 41.1 gm -3. There were no exceedances at any of the other sites. In 2004 there were no exceedences of the annual mean objective. There were also no exceedences of the annual mean objective in 2005 or In 2006 there was a reduction in the Nitrogen Dioxide levels across the diffusion tube sites, resulting in the air quality remaining well below the objective level. There is insufficient data to comment on trends in concentrations at any of the sites. The capture of data from the diffusion tube sites has also been high with sites having about 75% capture for all 3 years except for the diffusion tubes at Chalkwell Pak which have had lower capture every year. Particulates (PM 10 ) Concentrations of PM 10 at the continuous monitoring station are well below objective limits. Concentrations in 2003 were higher than those recorded in 2002, though levels remained below the annual mean objective. There were 3 exceedances of the 24 hour objective in 2005, although there were no exceedances in The data capture at the automatic monitoring site is high with all data capture being over 80%. The year with the least data capture is 2003 with 2001 having the highest level of capture. There is insufficient data to analyse trends in particle concentrations, although levels have remained well below the objective. 4

8 Figure 2.1 Location of air quality monitoring sites in Southend Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Crown Copyright. Licence number LA

9 3. Emission sources When the Updating and Screening Assessment was carried out in 2006, there were no Part A industrial sources and 38 Part B industrial sources (of which, 20 were petrol stations) in the Borough of Southend. These are listed in Table 3.1. Since the USA was carried out, there have been no new processes and two processes have ceased operating. These are shown in table 3.1. New Developments There are no new developments that are likely to have an impact on air quality. 6

10 Table 3.1 Industrial Emission Sources in Southend PROCESS NAME PROCESS TYPE PG NOTE Notes Southend Crematorium Crematorium 5/2 RMC concrete batching 3 / 1 Autorama Small Waste Oil Burner 1 / 1 Ceased operating Brett Fairlop concrete batching 3 / 1 Southend Motors Services Small Waste Oil Burner 1 / 1 Westcliff Test Centre Small Waste Oil Burner 1 / 1 Ceased operating The Garage Small Waste Oil Burner 1 / 1 BMW Approved Workshop vehicle respraying 6/34 Ecotherm Insulation Di-isocyanate process 6/29 Friths Flexible Packaging Ltd. Printing 6/17 Southend Vehicle Finishers ceased operating Ltd. vehicle respraying 6/34 Lin Pac Automotive Di-isocyanate process / coating process 6/29 Concrete Direct concrete batching 3 / 1 Westleigh Motors vehicle respraying 6/34 Unitruc Ltd Small Waste Oil Burner 1 / 1 Ceased operating Newood Transmissions Small Waste Oil Burner 1 / 1 Ultimate Body Refinishers vehicle respraying 6/34 Macleans (Foils) Ltd printing 6/17 Sunray Auto Repairs Small Waste Oil Burner 1 / 1 Standard Filling Station Unloading of petrol 1/14 London Road Service Station Unloading of petrol 1/14 Belgrave Service Station Unloading of petrol 1/14 Tesco Express Unloading of petrol 1/14 Progress Service Station Unloading of petrol 1/14 Kent Elms Service Station Unloading of petrol 1/14 Southchurch Express Unloading of petrol 1/14 Shell Bourne Green Unloading of petrol 1/14 Shell Milton Unloading of petrol 1/14 ceased operating Shell Sovereign Unloading of petrol 1/14 Snax 24 Unloading of petrol 1/14 Save Retail Ltd Unloading of petrol 1/14 Tesco Stores Ltd Unloading of petrol 1/14 West Street Service Station Unloading of petrol 1/14 Asda Shoeburyness Petrol Filling Station Unloading of petrol 1/14 Waitrose Petrol Filling Station Unloading of petrol 1/14 Glen Service Station Unloading of petrol 1/14 7

11 4. Planning and Policies There are three new developments and seven proposed new developments within the Borough. These developments are not likely to have a detrimental impact on air quality. 5. Local Transport Plan Southend is a unitary authority and has its own Local Transport Plan. There are a number of general measures in the Southend LTP which are aimed at reducing the impact of road transport on air quality. The Environmental Health Department is working in partnership with the Highways and Transportation department of Southend Borough Council to ensure that new traffic management schemes consider the potential impact on air quality, and to consider the reintroduction of two monitoring stations through Local Transport Plan activity. 6. Summary and Conclusions The Progress Report shows that Southend is currently meeting the air quality objectives and is not at risk of exceeding the objectives by the relevant target dates. The Borough Council is working in partnership with key stakeholders to ensure that the air quality in Southend remains below objective limits and continues to improve. The Borough Council does not need to carry out any detailed assessment as a result of any findings of the Progress Report. The next air quality report to be prepared and submitted to DeFRA will be the 2008 Progress Report. 8