Top advisers slam Heathrow air quality claims - Royal Borough calls for urgent statement from transport secretary

Government's claims that expansion at Heathrow can be achieved without breaching air quality limits have been undermined by a report from their own environmental advisers – and the Royal Borough is calling for an urgent explanation from transport secretary Ruth Kelly.

The move follows Environment Agency (EA) criticisms of the Adding Capacity at Heathrow consultation, which echo those made by local authorities campaigning against a third runway.

Now members of the 2M Group, including the Royal Borough, want the transport secretary to make an urgent statement on the EA's findings.

Speaking on behalf of the 2M Group, Cllr David Burbage, leader of the Royal Borough, said:
"The government's own scientific advisers are telling them what local councils and other campaign groups have said all along: the figures just do not add up.

"More and more evidence is emerging of the lengths that the Department for Transport and BAA went to so they could be sure of getting the answers they wanted from these environmental tests."

The EA – the leading public body for protecting the environment – warns that the material used to justify the government's conclusions on likely nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels cannot be relied on. It says that there are arguments for postponing irreversible investment decisions in the face of uncertainty. The full report is available on the EA's website.

The key conclusion states: 'We do not think that the evidence presented is sufficiently robust to conclude that the proposed Heathrow development will not infringe the NO2 Directive, bearing in mind the uncertainties that need to be addressed. This is because the assessment of air quality pays insufficient attention to these uncertainties and to the range of possible future scenarios for issues like road traffic, meteorological variability, climate change, background air quality and atmospheric chemistry.'

The report goes on to warn: 'It is likely that worsened air quality... will result in increased morbidity and mortality impacts as well as a range of other impacts. These air quality impacts will be present irrespective of whether air quality remains within EU guidelines and are likely to be especially important given the very high population density of the SE region.'

It criticises the lack of evidence on road traffic emissions – even though the consultation claims that the air quality impact from rising numbers of vehicles will be offset by technological advances.

The agency's response, which is now being considered by the government, casts doubt on the way greenhouse gas costs are calculated in the consultation documents. It says these are subject to 'enormous uncertainty' and concludes that it is 'notable and worrying that a doubling of these costs would more or less remove the stated net benefit of expanding Heathrow.'

Cllr Burbage said: "I'm not surprised that the Environment Agency has serious doubts about the evidence used – but what really disturbs me is the thought that no-one bothered to seek its advice before.

"The government has forfeited the right to the public's trust on the expansion argument. Ruth Kelly must explain just how we have got to a position where the government's own environmental advisers did not have a say in the way these vital air and noise pollution impacts were assessed."

The council's comprehensive response to the government's recent consultation on the expansion at Heathrow has highlighted grave concerns over the lack of evidence presented in regard to air quality.  Copies of the council's response can be viewed at www.rbwm.gov.uk

The EA report can be viewed at http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/ourviews/1876673/1980740/?version=1&lang=_e

Along with the Royal Borough the 2M Group comprises the London Boroughs of Camden, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Southwark and Wandsworth as well as Slough and South Bucks.
 
For more information visit www.2MGroup.org.uk