§ 68. Mr. Hastingsasked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he is aware that the British Electricity Authority and their 49W predecessors have been unable to introduce gas-washing plant at the Battersea Power Station for the elimination of smoke, grit and sulphur, in accordance with their undertaking of 1947, so that today only 30 per cent. of the emission is washed and that, while the north-west chimney will be reconditioned by the autumn, the installation of 100 per cent. washing will be postponed to the spring of 1951, with the result that much of the discharge of smoke, grit and noxious fumes will continue for another two years and what action he proposes to take.
§ Mr. GaitskellYes, I am kept informed of the progress of this work. Battersea is a modern station which produces very little smoke. It is already equipped with mechanical arrestors which eliminate nearly all the grit. While at present only 30 per cent. of the chimney gas is washed to eliminate sulphur, the completion next month of the reconstruction of the northwest tower will result in 70 per cent. of the gas being washed.
Every effort is being made to complete the work necessary to wash the remaining 30 per cent., but the space in which the work has to be done is so confined and the working conditions are so difficult, that there is very little hope that this last stage can be completed before the spring of 1951.