I’ve
been following the Sunderland Council air quality reports for several years,
and thought I’d update my blog with the April 2013 and April 2014 statistics,
which I had to request from the council as I couldn’t find them on their website.
The April 2015 results haven’t yet become available.
The
most interesting measure of pollution is the Nitrogen Dioxide Levels (NO²)
which has a safe limit, set by the EU at 40 µg/m3. So anything above that is
illegal, should automatically trigger a review, and must be a cause of concern
for residents living nearby.
At
the time of my last blog on the topic, there were ongoing road-works in central
Sunderland, principally on St. Mary’s Way, with consequent traffic congestion
and local residents were concerned about the consequences. Road work has still
not fully concluded, after more than 2 years of work.
The
April 2014 report said:
“The Progress
Report 2013 has identified the need to proceed to a Detailed Assessment. This
decision has been supported by the data collected and presented in this
Progress Report 2014. The objective that is likely to be breached is the Annual
LAQM Progress Report 2014 Nitrogen Dioxide Objective of 40µg/m3. The location
of the exceedence is at Dunn House which is located at the Northern end of
North Bridge Street the A1018 near to the Wheatsheaf Gyratory.
Sunderland’s
next course of action will be to proceed to a detailed assessment for Nitrogen
Dioxide, for the Annual Objective.”
However,
the April 2013 report said:
“The Updating and Screening Assessment 2012 has
identified the need to proceed to a Detailed Assessment. This decision has been
supported by the data collected and presented in this Progress Report 2013. The
objective that is likely to be breached is the Annual Nitrogen Dioxide
Objective of 40μg/m3.
The location of the exceedence is at Dunn House which is located at the
Northern end of North Bridge Street the A1018 near to the Wheatsheaf Gyratory.
Sunderland’s next course of action will be to
proceed to a Detailed Assessment for Nitrogen Dioxide for the Annual Objective
but propose that the start of monitoring for this Assessment be delayed until
September 2013 to allow major road works nearby to be completed.”
Guess
what? The April 2012 report said:
“This Updating and Screening
Assessment has identified the need to proceed to a Detailed Assessment for
Nitrogen Dioxide.
Sunderland City Council’s next
course of action will therefore be to proceed to a Detailed Assessment for
Nitrogen Dioxide at relevant locations.”
So
not exactly speedy, by any criteria you care to mention!
Let’s
look at the data for the city, using
their own measuring points and collected data. Since the review has not
yet been published (if ever…) I collated the data myself. I’ve given all data
locations, so anyone living near these can see the pattern of rising or falling
pollution near their homes and workplaces. Some areas are quite good, others
have the highest recorded data ever (as far as I know) , clearly breaking the
safe legal limit.
|
Location
|
April, 2011
|
April, 2012
|
April, 2013
|
April, 2014
|
|
Arndale ho, St Mary's Way
|
27.32
|
28.31
|
34.9
|
28
|
|
17 Parkside, E Herrington
|
26.53
|
28.54
|
32.4
|
31
|
|
15 John Street
|
23.99
|
26.64
|
25.5
|
23.8
|
|
166 Chester Road
|
29.01
|
28.34
|
33.3
|
32.3
|
|
25 Eden Vale
|
33.76
|
32.69
|
37.8
|
33.3
|
|
101 Southwick Road
|
25.55
|
26.73
|
32.4
|
28.7
|
|
5 N Bridge Street
|
33.42
|
33.66
|
36.8
|
34.6
|
|
6 Beatrice Terrace
|
34.25
|
33.71
|
35.8
|
32.8
|
|
2 Alice Street
|
20.75
|
20.35
|
22.9
|
21.3
|
|
Hinds Street
|
30.64
|
30.67
|
34.4
|
36.8
|
|
Mary Street
|
30.72
|
35.54
|
37.8
|
37
|
|
Trimdon Street 1
|
37.34
|
37.83
|
40.8
|
40
|
|
Silksworth Lane 1
|
16.81
|
36.89
|
19.1
|
16.7
|
|
Trimdon Street 2
|
36.74
|
37.38
|
40
|
40.2
|
|
TrimdonStreet 3
|
36.17
|
18.19
|
40.1
|
39
|
|
Silksworth Lane 2
|
15.88
|
17.69
|
18.8
|
16.3
|
|
Silksworth Lane 3
|
16.4
|
16.33
|
18.9
|
16
|
|
23 Newcastle Road
|
31.81
|
15.27
|
34.4
|
29.1
|
|
237 Alexandra Road
|
22.36
|
19.66
|
23.7
|
21.8
|
|
181 Durham Road
|
30.12
|
29.37
|
33.2
|
29.5
|
|
9 Derwent Street
|
24.03
|
26.25
|
27.7
|
26.6
|
|
3 Holmside
|
40.77
|
33.28
|
41.1
|
35.8
|
|
27 Bridge Street
|
27.07
|
29.88
|
30.4
|
26.4
|
|
4 Athaeneum Street
|
30.49
|
32
|
33.5
|
30.3
|
|
Gillespies PH
|
29.66
|
30.66
|
30
|
25.9
|
|
16 Windsor Terrace, Grangetown
|
25.49
|
25.05
|
21.4
|
28.3
|
|
263 Chester Road
|
36.02
|
34.28
|
39.4
|
35
|
|
45 Station Road
|
28.76
|
26.41
|
29.5
|
26.7
|
|
Echo Building
|
30.52
|
36.1
|
32.2
|
31.2
|
|
West Sunniside
|
20.96
|
24.36
|
27.1
|
22.2
|
|
St Mary's Car Park
|
23.67
|
26.4
|
27.9
|
25.3
|
|
Chaplins PH
|
34.55
|
40.8
|
39.3
|
35.4
|
|
Dunn Ho, N Bridge Street
|
38.87
|
42.21
|
46.2
|
46
|
|
26 Northern Way
|
31.83
|
32.85
|
32.2
|
31.5
|
|
Thompson Road, Southwick
|
29.12
|
32.8
|
35.2
|
31.9
|
|
Merle Terrace
|
23.25
|
22.15
|
25.1
|
25.9
|
|
1 Morningside, Rickleton
|
25.2
|
21.72
|
24.7
|
24.8
|
In
2013/14, the highest area of pollution was Dunn House, again. Remember, they’ve
been aware of this since 2012. Trimdon Street, the proposed route for the new
Strategic Transport Corridor from the new bridge, is also breaching safety
guidelines, and Hinds Street is also very high.
Displaying
the data graphically:-
Oh
look! From the April 2011 report:
In addition, further information was obtained relating to the second
potential area of exceedence of the annual mean nitrogen dioxide objective at
Trimdon Street Roundabout. The area of potential exceedence covered one
receptor known as Embassy House. The property was purchased by the City of
Sunderland as part of a large development plan and was demolished soon after.
Since there were no receptors in the area of potential exceedence there was no
requirement for the declaration of an Air Quality Management Area. Currently Sunderland
City Council has no AQMA’s within its boundary
So
Trimdon Street and Hinds Street were of concern before, and what did they do?
Demolish the monitoring site! Problem solved!
Children growing up near traffic develop stunted lungs and are more prone to asthma; those at schools near busy roads have greater memory and cognitive problems. And air pollution is increasingly being linked to cancer and strokes.”
So a good place to go next is to the data on health in Sunderland. Are there centres of pulmonary disease in the areas where there has been high pollution registered – Trimdon Street and North Bridge Streeet, for example. You would expect other causes of lung disease such as smoking to be more widely distributed. As it happens, data is segregated into doctors’ practices, for much of the data. Here’s the map they use:-
Let’s see where the incidence of chronic pulmonary disease occurs:-
There’s quite a large grouping in the central area of the city. The doctors’ practices with the highest incidence of pulmonary disease are in Hendon (1st and 2nd highest) and Dundas street (4th highest).
The
incidence of asthma shows a similar pattern on the map.
The
latest government statistics show that the nation’s 28.5 million cars emitted
150,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, but a further 97,000 tons were given off by
just 400,000 HGVs.
The
World Health Organisation says that “Several types of animal study have indicated that nitrogen dioxide increases
susceptibility to bacterial lung infections and perhaps viral infections… the
increase in mortality is highly dependent on the exposure regime. Concentration
is far more important than length of exposure in increasing susceptibility to
infection, although duration does play a role.”
Just
to conclude… A few more interesting items from the Sunderland air quality reports:_
- The former Vaux site that lies to the North of St Mary’s Way which has been discussed during previous Review and Assessment reports has yet to be developed. It is planned that as the site is developed that air quality assessments will be submitted going forward. These will of course be discussed during future Progress Reports. (April 2013)
- Major road works have been undertaken on the Wheatsheaf Gyratory to change the layout of the junction and the improvements should relieve congestion. In addition to this a large retail development of a new Tesco Supermarket is being constructed close by See Fig 8.1 below. Originally Sunderland City Council had planned to begin the monitoring of this location immediately after the roadworks had been completed. However, during discussions with the Traffic section of the council it was advised that the junction would need time to “settle” as motorists became used to the new arrangements and found the best way to reach their destinations. The decision was taken to delay monitoring for a further 6 months. (April 2013)
- If the Progress Report identifies the risk of exceedence of an Air Quality Objective, the Local Authority (LA) should undertake a Detailed Assessment immediately, and not wait until the next round of Review and Assessment. (All years in section 1.2)
- The site where an exceedence was recorded was tube no. 132 located on a lamp post in North Bridge Street adjacent to Dunn House which is a large block of apartments approximately 5 storeys high. North Bridge Street is a four-laned road that leads from the Wearmouth Bridge, 3 lanes flow northwards away from the city centre and one lane carries buses and taxis towards the city. Tube 132 had an annual average of 46 µg/m3 after bias adjustment. The tube is positioned on a lamp post on the path adjacent to the building and adjacent to Northbridge Street. The residents do not live on the ground floor of the premises and the first level is at approximately 3 metres above street level. (April 2014)
So
as long as they don’t walk along the street they live on, they’re alright?
I
have to say, the constant passing the buck by postponing the legally required
survey until the next year, and the next, so things can settle (get worse?) is
depressing. If I lived in these streets I would be angry! Don’t forget, they
lost 2010’s data altogether!
I
will be waiting for the 2015 report, amd may even put a FOI in for the supposed
survey!
My
last blog on the topic, with discussion of the use of measuring stations is
at:-
Here
are the reports that give the raw data:-
Sunderland
City Council Local Air Quality Management Progress Report 2011
http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=11790&p=0
Sunderland City Council Local Air Quality Management Updating and Screening Assessment April 2012
http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=13733&p=0&fsize=876kb&
ftype=Updating+and+Screening+Assessment+2012.PDF
Sunderland City Council Local Air Quality Management Updating and Screening Assessment April 2013
http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=11790&p=0
Sunderland City Council Local Air Quality Management Updating and Screening Assessment April 2012
http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=13733&p=0&fsize=876kb&
ftype=Updating+and+Screening+Assessment+2012.PDF
Sunderland City Council Local Air Quality Management Updating and Screening Assessment April 2013
Sunderland
City Council Local Air Quality Management Updating and Screening Assessment
April 2014
