UK government sued for bad air quality

Environmental law organisation ClientEarth has issued judicial review proceedings against the UK Government. ClientEarth is bringing the case to make the government protect people's health from toxic levels of air pollution in towns and cities. In the UK, 29,000 people die prematurely every year because of air pollution – more people than die, or sustain serious injuries, in road traffic accidents.

The judicial review is a legal challenge to the failure of the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to produce plans that will bring nitrogen dioxide (NO2) within legal limits by 1 January 2015, and for refusing to consult the public on its latest plan for reducing dangerous airborne particles (PM10) in London – despite ClientEarth reminding them in April of their legal responsibility to do so.

Source: ClientEarth press release, 29 July 2011

In this issue

Cruise line fined for breaching sulphur rules

A cruise ship operator has been fined EUR 30,000 for contravening European Union rules on the sulphur content of marine fuel. The 88,000 gross tonne Disney Magic was inspected this month while at berth in the Italian port of Naples, and it was found the ship was using a bunker fuel with a sulphur content in excess of an EU regulation that requires ships at berth to use fuel with a sulphur content of no more than 0.10 per cent, unless they are scheduled to be in port for less than two hours.

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