This article is from page 72 of the 2006-03-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 72 JPG
SAFE levels of smoke and grime in the air have been breached in Ennis eleven times in the last two months.
That’s according to the results of air quality testing which has been carried out by the mobile Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the town.
A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency agreed that the levels were “high by comparison to other similar sized towns” but the lack of a smoky fuel burning ban could account for this.
The EPA’s mobile unit has been carrying out testing in the town on a daily basis for the last eight weeks.
The testing is part of a national project and Ennis is the last of 20 towns visited over the last three years.
The mobile unit spends six months at a time in each town, testing for levels of gases and substances, including sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter, which is smoke, dust and other small particles suspended in the air.
A spokesman for the EPA said that so far, all tests for nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide in Ennis have come in way under the level which is considered safe.
The levels of smoke particles and other grime suspended in the air have been breached six times during the last month.
But the EPA spokesman said that this alone was not cause for alarm.
“The safety limits state that there can be 35 days in the year on which the limits can be exceeded.
“It is not believed to be a threat to health until there have been 35 days in excess of the safety levels.”
The fact that there have been so many in the first two months of the year does not mean that the town will be over the 35 instances limit for the year.
“This was a very cold period, so we would expect people to be lighting more fires and for there to be more smoke present.
“But if it was in excess on more than 35 days, then a decision would have to be taken on whether continuous monitoring is needed.
“The county council would have to decide what action to take” the spokesman said.
The issue of consistently high levels of dust and smoke in the air was raising concerns for public health and safety right across Europe, the spokesman said.