§ Mr. GrieveTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what aircraft pollution monitoring arrangements are in place in the vicinity of Heathrow airport; and who operates each site. [154472]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 11 February 2004]: The following three air quality monitoring stations in the vicinity of Heathrow airport ate part of Defra's Automatic Air Quality Urban and Rural Monitoring Network (AURN):
London Hillingdon is owned by Defra and has operated since July 1996. It is in a suburban location (Grid Reference: TQ 069786) and monitors ozone, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter (PM10).428WBrentford Roadside is owned by the London borough of Hounslow and has operated since June 2003. It is in an urban roadside location (Grid Reference: TQ 175781) and monitors oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide. (During the period 1997–02, this site operated a short distance from its present location and was named Hounslow Roadside.)Harlington is owned by BAA and has operated since April 2003. It is in an urban background location (Grid Reference: TQ 083778) and monitors ozone, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and PM10.These stations measure pollution arising from all sources not just aircraft and provide information on the overall pollutant concentrations to which residents in the area are exposed. Data from all three of these stations are quality assured to national standards.
Further information on these stations, data summaries and hour-by-hour pollutant concentrations can be found at www.airquality.co.uk (the site at Harlington is in the process of being incorporated into this system).
In addition, BAA and local authorities in the vicinity of Heathrow airport operate the following air quality monitoring stations at: Slough Town Hall; Slough, Colnbrook; Hillingdon, South Ruislip; Hillingdon Hospital; Hounslow, Cranford; Hounslow, Chiswick High Rd; and BAA Heathrow, LHR2 site close to northern airport runway.
Information about air quality in the vicinity of Heathrow airport can also be found at www.heathrowairwatch.org.uk