Dear Vicky,
We write to you with further concerns regarding a resolution from the ongoing issues presented by the Aggregates Industry company.
Since Mr Mould’s visit to our and the Aggregates site, we are still witnessing vehicles transporting material from the site without covers on. Today is a wet day, but the amount of dust billowing from the grabber used to unload the material from the trains is just astonishing.
As we write this letter, our air quality detector is beeping crazily high, with a reading of 59.5 PM2.5 ug/m3 stating unhealthy levels. The recommended optimum health issues as stated by The World Health Organisation is that annual average concentrations of PM2.5 should not exceed 5 ug/m3, while 24 hour exposures should not exceed 15 for more than 3-4 days per years. Obviously this is extremely concerning.
If we are being exposed to these levels of dust from the end of the street, we dread to think what the workers, nearer businesses, residents and wildlife from the river are being subjected to.
We have written to Mr Mould again (24th June) outlining additional information requested in order to reassure us that action will be taken at the end of July, but have yet to receive a response. We had copied you in on the email, but have also enclosed a copy with this letter.
Some of the questions we have raised relates to the legal expose limits of the dust.
We cannot phantom how, in this day and age, an aggregates company can be allowed to be positioned and fully operational within the heart of a major city centre. It’s hard to comprehend that the location of the company (and no doubt posing as an economical advantage to someone somewhere) is more important than the health of the community.
How has this company even been able to continue its operations from this site?
What is being done on the wider scale to really hone in on the government’s claims to make our city a greener environment? The legally binding targets to protect our environment as stipulated in the Environmental Act and Plan for January 2023 states we’ll “cut exposure to the most harmful air pollutant to human health – PM2.5” Chelmsford was listed to be one of the top 100 most polluted areas in the country in 2021. With the aggregates site still contributing to this, am I really meant to believe that the council and government are genuinely committed to actively leaving our environment in a better state for future generations?
We’d like to restore our faith in the commitments made by the government and council.
Yours faithfully
Gary Wray & Jade Marshall.
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