The new Arrecife Ring Road will finally not have an air quality measurement station. Although the Environmental Impact Statement for this work included this requirement, the Cotmac decided this Tuesday to "remove it".
The request came from the General Directorate of Road Infrastructure of the Government of the Canary Islands, as promoter of the duplication work of this road. Specifically, it requested to eliminate condition number 11 of the Environmental Impact Statement, which established the duty to "install an Air Quality Measurement Station to measure the concentrations of pollution emitted by traffic".
As agreed at the time, the location and characteristics of that station should be agreed with the Ministry of Environment and Territorial Planning. In addition, it was specified that the information provided by that station should be transmitted in real time to the Air Quality Assessment Center of the Ministry of Environment and Territorial Planning and, once installed, had to be transferred to the aforementioned Ministry for its management.
"The objective of this condition was to guarantee the correct evaluation of air quality in the area affected by the project," explains the Government of the Canary Islands.
However, it now maintains that a report issued in this regard, on whether or not that station is necessary, considers that "the existing facilities are sufficient for the evaluation of air quality in the area, and it is not essential to install new stations in Arrecife to evaluate diffuse traffic emissions".
Based on that report that claims to have been prepared in this regard, the Cotmac has agreed to "remove the obligation to build a new air quality measurement station, since the existing ones provide sufficient information for its adequate study".
