Air quality at the Esplanade Quarter construction (FOI)

​Request

During the construction of the new finance centre building, how many times did the air quality detection equipment record above acceptable levels?

Response

• it has been assumed that ‘the new finance centre building’ in the Freedom of Information (FOI) request refers to the States of Jersey Development Company (SoJDC) Building No.4 on the Esplanade Quarter

• the construction of this building commenced on the 17 June 2015 and a completion certificate was issued on the 6 April 2017

• the Environmental Health team within the Department of the Environment monitors air quality and regulates Statutory Nuisance under the Statutory Nuisance (Jersey) Law 1999. In some instances, poor air quality may be caused by a statutory nuisance

• equipment to monitor the concentration of particles near the new finance centre site was put in place by the SoJDC in July 2015 and moved in April 2017 to monitor the construction phase of another building

• the equipment measures particles continuously and not all measured particles can be attributed to the construction of the building, as those created by traffic, blown sand and salt are also included

• there are two air quality standards associated with the new finance centre site:

1. Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP)

• the planning permit associated to Building No.4 on the Esplanade Quarter requires the SoJDC to comply with a CEMP and monitor particle levels from the excavation and construction of the new building

• the CEMP sets an action level of 250 μg/m³ (micrograms per m³) as a 15 minute average

• this action level is accepted as a good indicator of possible ongoing or imminent pollution events

• two back to back exceedances of the action level could result in the department making contact with the site manager and, depending on circumstances, a site visit

• the table below sets out the CEMP action level exceedances for 2015, 2016 and 2017 measured by the equipment located near the new finance centre site

2. Air Quality Strategy

• the Air Quality Strategy is available on the States of Jersey website at www.gov.je and can be found at the following link:

           Jersey Air Quality Strategy

• the States of Jersey Air Quality Strategy sets current air quality limit values based on WHO, EU and UK limit values.

• measurements of air quality are categorised as Low, Moderate, High and Very High based on the widely used international convention

• the Air Quality Strategy sets an Air Quality Particles Limit Value of:

• the table below sets out the Air Quality limit value exceedances for 2015, 2016 and 2017 measured by the equipment located near the new finance centre site.