Aviation fuel monitoring at Manston

A further update on the Kentmere Avenue at Manston airport.

The largest monitor covering the airport: here’s the picture off the Kent air quality website:

http://www.kentair.org.uk/monitoringnetwork.php?view=sitephotos&site=ZH3&bulletindate=03/12/2009#details

Like a rather large telephone box or a shipping container: this is the monitor that’s now switched off.

The diffusion tubes are literally test tubes with a dab of cotton wool and tied to lanp-posts – usually used in their dozens and hundreds to monitor traffic pollution.

Here’s the Medway newspaper front page on serious traffic pollution in Medway which is monitored by diffusion tubes – for cars not jumbo jets.

http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?referral=other&refresh=fG1705Po2c0Q&PBID=95f0fcf6-68e7-4ec6-a688-2d9be9749147&skip=

As you can imagine airport monitoring – especially an airport slated for expansion and built on the water supply and near an urban population of over 100,000 needs to be tightly monitored.

All the more bizarre to switch the Kentmere monitor off in August – at the time of the night flights announcement.

And here’s the data reading for the diffusion tubes at Manston:

http://www.kentair.org.uk/pollutionlevels.php?view=graph&site=ZH3&bulletindate=03/12/2009#details

As you’d expect fairly easy for them to go off the scale with the pollution levels.

Imagine if the 30 flights a day were happening: the pollution levels – but the monitoring switched off or removed.

And even as late as August and the night flights charade the main monitor switched off.

It would still be easy to work out the aviation fuel yield on the towns from the flight logs, the plane fuel tanks and height and wind speed.

Now you don’t need to be a genius to work out that the civil servants and politicians have decided to switch off monitors, removed the noise monitors, never provide the mobile monitor – and never replace any of the monitors in the last 3 years.

Maybe I’m old-fashioned but I thought they all worked for the public rather than Infratil?

I thought the greatest good for the greatest number was the point of public service?

I thought cancer jobs weren't a good idea. Hence monitoring.

I thought regeration was a fgood idea - so as not to rely on one industry or one employer.

Or relying on quick-fix ideas: "we're 2,000 jobs down let's expand the airprot to create 2,000 jobs".

"And do nothing else".

I thought noise and air and water monitoring was done to protect the public? That's why we elect politicians and pay for civil servants isn't it?

Obviously not.

What jiggerypokery will be going on with the monitors at Heathrow and Gatwick and Lydd?

And not one public statement from any politician or civil servant on the missing monitors.

So we can guess.

Jeopardising their own public. Their own families. Their friends. Their neighbours.

And still no news on the bathing water data, Thor, Richboro, the gasworks – are the toxin results available? Has the cleanup begun? When will it be completed?

Failed. Failed. Failed.

Time for Change.