Green Assembly Member Jenny Jones has called for the Mayor to stop wasting taxpayers’ money on “quick fix” solutions for London’s air pollution, after an analysis of his dust suppressant trial found that there was no identifiable significant effect on air quality at 3 of the 5 sites tested.
An evaluation concluded that the dust suppressant trial had no significant effect on air quality for 3 of the 5 sites tested, including Marylebone Road (Image: David Hawgood)
The trial was initiated by Mayor Boris Johson in 2010 as an “innovative” method to clean up London’s air using Calcium Magnesium Acetate (CMA) – commonly known as ‘glue’ – to stick particulate matter to carriageways and prevent it re-circulating. Despite promises in 2010 that it would “have an immediate impact on air quality in the most polluted areas of central London”, a recent evaluation of the trial concluded that this was not the case at three out of the five highway trial sites – Marylebone Road, A2 New Cross and A12 Blackwell.
London Assembly Member Jenny Jones commented:
“Boris Johnson’s attempt at a quick fix of gluing pollution to London’s polluted highways such as Marylebone Road has proved to be a failure and a waste of taxpayers’ money.
If it had been successful, this would have allowed the Mayor to continue to dither and delay the actions necessary to cut London’s air pollution and potentially escape legal action from the EU for exceeding legal limits. This sticking plaster fix of glue on roads is no longer an option so he must now act decisively.”