Britannia Radio

Without wanting to get into the argument over this third runway
issue, I would suggest that this is a private quarrel and the EU
should be politely told to go away and stop fishing in troubled waters

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THE GUARDIAN 18.8.08
Heathrow expansion: Third runway will breach pollution limit, EU warns
• Dan Milmo, transport correspondent

The European Union has waded into the debate over expanding Heathrow
airport by warning that plans for a third runway will "significantly"
breach air pollution guidelines.

Stavros Dimas, the European commissioner for the environment, said he
will contact the British government over the issue, putting further
pressure on ministers. He said an expanded Heathrow will miss EU-
imposed nitrogen oxide targets after January 2015 - the latest
possible date that it can meet the guidelines.
"We will contact the UK authorities regarding this matter," said
Dimas in a letter seen by the Guardian.
"Technical reports underpinning the Heathrow expansion suggest that
nitrogen limit values near Heathrow will be significantly exceeded in
2010, the year in which those limit values become mandatory, and that
this will be the case even after 2015," he said.

The government denies that guidelines will be breached
"significantly" in 2015, contradicting Dimas's letter.

According to the consultation on expanding Heathrow published last
year, the introduction of "mixed mode", which allows continual take-
off and landing on the two runways, will result in a minor breach of
pollution limits in 2015.

Mixed mode is viewed by BAA, the owner of Heathrow, as an interim
measure to expand the overcrowded airport before a third runway is
completed by 2020 at the earliest. Mixed-mode would increase the
number of annual flights at Heathrow from 480,000 to 540,000. With a
third runway, the number of flights would rise to 702,000.

The government has pushed back its recommendation on a third runway
to the end of the year as it sifts through more than 70,000 responses
to the consultation. Government sources have denied reports of a
"wobble" over expansion plans and said the recommendation over a
third runway has been delayed by the sheer volume of responses to the
consultation.