Air quality case study

Mellish Street, London Borough Of Tower Hamlets

Background

This project was for the demolition of the existing community centre before the construction of two new buildings on Mellish Street. Located within the borough-wide London Borough of Tower Hamlets (LBTH) AQMA; this AQMA was defined for annual mean exceedances of NO2 and 24-hour mean exceedances of PM10. With many residential and commercial receptors in close proximity to the site, BTH required an Air Quality and Dust Management Plan (AQDMP) to mitigate the risk of nuisance dust affecting these receptors and to prevent further deterioration of the air quality within the AQMA.

Challenge

A comprehensive AQDMP needed to be created to ensure that dust was sufficiently mitigated on-site, so that the nearby residential and commercial receptors did not suffer from air quality and dust impacts. A construction dust risk assessment had been completed for the project, and this needed to be used to inform the mitigation measures in the AQDMP.

Solution

The dust risk assessment showed that the overall dust risk impact was medium. The appropriate mitigation measures were suggested from the Mayor of London’s Control of Dust and Emissions During Construction and Demolition: Supplementary Planning Guidance. On-site water supply and drainage were assessed to ensure that there would be sufficient water to implement the suggested mitigation measures and to prevent pollutants from draining into nearby watercourses. Measures for fuel storage were suggested in the AQDMP, as well as responsibilities for the person in charge of air quality on site. As the site is medium risk, the Supplementary Planning Guidance requires air quality to be measured on-site. A monitoring protocol was devised, taking into account the local prevailing wind direction, that gave monitoring on-site and at nearby sensitive receptors. Hourly mean trigger levels were also suggested. If this trigger level was exceeded, work would stop immediately, resuming once best practice measures were confirmed.