Olympics and Crossrail criticised over pollution
08:13 15 Jul 2009 |
The Environmental Industries Commission (EIC) has berated the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) for failing to combat pollution from the Olympic site and also called on Crossrail to act on air quality.
In a letter to ODA chairman Lord Coe the EIC, which represents manufacturers and suppliers of equipment such as diesel particulate filters (DPFs), said the Olympics has gone back on its commitment to implement the London Best Practice Guide (BPG) which requires the retrofitting of DPFs to machines over 37kW.
It described the ODA's announcement of a year-long pilot study to evaluate fuel efficiency, warranties, machine functionality, safety risks, environmental benefits and costs as 'unacceptable'.
EIC policy director Danny Stevens said all these parameters have already been addressed by the BPG and the DPF registration system run by the Energy Savings Trust.
He has called on Lord Coe to " urgently clarify why the ODA has decided to revisit these discussions by holding a pilot study" and said the study would "lead to indefinite delays fulfilling your commitment to comply with the BPG."
While work on the Olympics started over three years ago, to date no machines on the site have been fitted with a DPF. "This is hugely disappointing for an Olympic Games that had promised to be the greenest ever," said Stevens.
He has also written to Crossrail chief executive Rob Holden urging him to 'reduce harmful emissions on site through full implementation of the BPG'. Standard practice is for most items of plant that work underground to be fitted with a DPF to maintain acceptable air quality in the tunnels.
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