Clean air campaigners celebrate Port Talbot victory.
By Paul Lewis
CLEAN air campaigners are celebrating after the UK lost its bid for extra time to clean up atmospheric pollution in Port Talbot.
The request for an extension to meet European air quality standards was opposed by Friends of the Earth lawyers who have been acting for affected communities in Wales.
Port Talbot is one of eight urban 'hot spots' in the UK breaching air quality limits for PM10s in recent years.
PM10s are very small particulate matter linked to respiratory and cardiovascular illness, reduced life expectancy as well as other ill-health effects.
Friends of the Earth Cymru director Gordon James said: "Air pollution mainly affects people from poorer communities. This ruling is an important step in protecting their health.
"The Government should put its efforts into meeting air quality standards rather than trying to avoid them."
Under European law the UK has to ensure it meets strict limits for PM10s in the atmosphere.
It should have met those limits by January 1, 2005. However, earlier this year the UK applied to the Commission for a further two years to meet its PM10 limits including Port Talbot and London.
That application has now been thrown out by the European Commission.
Last month an independent report commission by the Welsh Assembly Government found that Corus was the "most likely" source of PM10 pollution in Port Talbot.
The report called for further work to identify specific sources, and provides suggestions on how to tackle the problem.
At the time, Assembly Environment Minister Jane Davidson said: "Recent figures into pollution in Wales showed our air is cleaner in overall terms than at any time since the industrial revolution.
"However, we recognise there is a particular issue in Port Talbot and following this study we will continue to work with Corus, Neath Port Talbot Council and Environment Agency Wales to improve the situation."
Friends of the Earth said lawyers at its Rights and Justice Centre had been working with Port Talbot residents to ensure air quality standards near the steelworks were met.
Last year, it said, those lawyers succeeded in forcing the Welsh Assembly Government to produce a legally required Air Quality Action Plan to bring local air quality within legal limits.
Friends of the Earth solicitor Laura Gyte has represented Port Talbot residents.
She said: "The UK has known about these limits for years. We are delighted the EU has rejected the Government's bid to carry on polluting.
"All relevant public bodies must now urgently get on with the important job of ensuring that UK air quality standards designed to protect health and the environment are met."
paul.lewis@swwmedia.co.uk
8 Comments
by Brian Morris, Neath Port Talbot
Wednesday, December 16 2009, 2:30PM
“Before the ones complain about the loss of jobs if Corus closed or the Biomess (not Biomass) power station was not to be built in PT - Not one job is worth the deaths that the filthy Steel Plant and the deaths that the Biomess PS would bring - we see abnormally high chest/lung cancers, deformed children being born - these are third world type problems - should Port Talbot be twinned with India's Bhopol and for those illiterate enough not to know what Bhopol is!..... if you can try and google "Bhopal disaster" and see what happened there.”
by Brian Morris, Neath Port Talbot
Wednesday, December 16 2009, 2:23PM
“For those interested, the facts that I have quoted are actually directly from TATA in India, not the puppet her in Port Talbot.
If the Steel works closed - I would cheer - we would start then to have clean air in Port Talbot - all we now need is the worlds largest Biomess Power Station moved to Cardiff Docks”
by Robert, Baglan, Port talbot.
Tuesday, December 15 2009, 9:56PM
“Brian Morris,
Do me a favour and keep you negative ideas about Corus out of these pages.
If Corus was to close then as a resident YOU will be directly affected.
Port Talbot is a steel town, the works was here before you and will be here for a long time to come.
Its people like you who whip a fuss about dusty skies and strange smells over the town. If you dont like it, MOVE AWAY, because if you had and the plant was to close then where would the work be? Mass unemployment, crippling financial outlook and not much hope for the town in general
Oh, and by the way....Mr Kriby Adams (Managing Director and CEO of Tata Steel Europe) has been quoted saying PT works have made a modest prifit and it looks to continue next year. Where do you get your facts from Brian?
What is you're real agenda Brian?”
by John, castell nedd
Tuesday, December 15 2009, 8:57PM
“Brian Morris, Neath Port Talbot.
Port talbot made a profit of £7m in november, and £6 in october. So it's you are wrong not me.”
by Brian Morris, Neath Port Talbot
Tuesday, December 15 2009, 11:05AM
“That should have started with........
"Unfortunately you are wrong".......”
by Brian Morris, Neath Port Talbot
Tuesday, December 15 2009, 11:03AM
“"wrong port talbot is making money again.
worker, port talbot"
Fortunately you are wrong - at the moment the Welsh Assembly Government is funding all sorts of activities at Port Talbot to reduce the number of redundancies there. I personally hope it doesn't close for the reasons given in my earlier message - bit I do not give it much hope. The car industry, building industry in the UK is at an all time low and with Chine buying up massive amounts of coal and iron ore pushing these prices higher, the steel when it's produced is much more expensive. China produces steel at the same price as Port Talbot buys in the raw materials - so how long can this go on for?”
by worker, port talbot
Tuesday, December 15 2009, 1:07AM
“wrong port talbot is making money again.”
by Brian Morris, Neath Port Talbot
Monday, December 14 2009, 1:53PM
“Corus has mothballed (closed) the Redcar Steel Plant in Teeside and in doing so has the opportunity to be granted many millions of pounds in Carbon Credits - now that the Steel plant there is not polluting the atmosphere. Having seen the "benefits" of the multimillion pound grant and the money saved on not paying for 1700 persons salaries - it's now almost a no brainer that Port Talbot will be closed - you can see the many millions it would get grant wise, the salaries it would save and the cleaner air Port Talbot would have - from a steel plant that's loosing millions a month for TATA.
Lets be honest TATA bought Corus at a sale price so that when politically correct they could close down and concentrate it's steel production in India. That way they have the same strangle hold on steel prices as the Oil Sheiks in the Middle East have done for many years with their controls over the price of oil.
The concern I have is that if we have our steel production from moved from the UK to India and the UK and USA taking on the "World Policce" role - what happens to our steel requirements or our armed forces?
They have said that Port Talbot has 5 years to start making a profit or it will be closed down (as per TV interview early 2009) - my guess is that having seen the financial benefit with mothballing Redcar - it won't be long (after Christmas) before an announcement is made by TATA that Port Talbot will be "mothballed" - business speak for eventual closure!”