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Thousands at risk of pollution from Forth bridge
from Sunday Herald, 22 February 2009
The government is facing a formal complaint to the United Nations about the thousands of people whose health could be endangered by pollution from the newly designed road bridge planned across the Firth of Forth.
Scottish ministers have re-routed the southern approach to the bridge to save money. But this has brought the dual carriageway much closer to local communities, threatening over 8,000 residents with increased risks of asthma, cancer and other diseases from exhaust fumes.
Now residents are preparing an appeal to the UN under the Aarhus Convention, which governs access to justice on environmental issues. The government agency, Transport Scotland, insists that it has not breached the convention.
Recent research from the Harvard School of Public Health in the US suggests that pollution from traffic can damage the health of people up to half a kilometre away. Toxic particles and gases can attack lungs, aggravate asthma in children and have been linked to higher rates of cancers.
Experts from the Forth Tunnel Action Group, which lobbied in favour of a tunnel instead of a bridge, have applied this research to the latest plan for the new Forth road crossing. The original route for the southern approach took it straight across fields to junction 1a of the M9.
But in order to help halve the total cost of the bridge to around £2 billion, the Scottish government altered the route. The road is now planned to curve around South Queensferry to join Scotstoun junction at the end of the new M9 spur.
According to the action group, that means that over 8,000 residents of South Queensferry and Kirkliston will come within half a kilometre of the traffic from the bridge. "Residents are furious that the Scottish government is putting their health at risk to save money," said one of the group's founding members, John Carson.
He accused Transport Scotland of getting its sums wrong. "8,000 residents in South Queensferry and Kirkliston will be subjected to increased risks of cancer and asthma all because Transport Scotland cannot get their costing right," he claimed.
Carson also pointed out that taking the road around South Queensferry lengthened the journey to join the M9 by 6.5 kilometres. "This could cost the travelling public £55 million per year and the additional mileage could dump up to 50,000 tonnes of additional carbon into the atmosphere," he said.
Carson, a retired civil engineer who used to work for Network Rail, is now preparing a formal complaint to the UN Economic Commission for Europe. This is the body that oversees the Aarhus Convention, which has been signed by the UK government.
Environmental groups have previously warned the government that pollution from the planned M74 extension could also threaten health of people living nearby. "We are seriously disappointed to discover that the Scottish government appears to be still underestimating the air pollution impacts of roads on health," said the chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, Duncan McLaren.
Transport Scotland, however, pointed out that the terms of the Aarhus Convention had been fully implemented by both European and Scottish legislation. "Therefore, by carrying out its statutory duties Transport Scotland has complied with the Convention," said a spokesman for the government agency.
"As the project progresses, the environmental effects of constructing the replacement crossing will continue to be investigated further as part of the statutory environmental impact assessment."
The assessments will include the impact of vehicle emissions on local air quality and public health. The results are expected to be published in "late 2009".
But the Green MSP, Patrick Harvie, argued that there was no need for a new bridge. "It's now entirely clear that we can repair and retain the existing bridge instead of building a new and unnecessary one," he said.
"This is a project which would risk the health of thousands, strain the nation's budget and worsen climate change. To proceed with it now would be unpardonable folly."
The Forthright Alliance, a coalition of groups opposing a new road bridge, is holding a public meeting at Queensferry High School on 17 March.
Posted by Rob Edwards on 21 February 2009 at 11:08 PM in Pollution, Transport | Permalink