AVENUE COKING WORKS
AIR QUALITY MONITORING PROGRAMME
MONTHLY SUMMARY
February 2005
Casella Stanger have been commissioned by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) to
undertake a comprehensive air quality monitoring programme at and around the site of the former
Avenue Coking Works. The monitoring is being conducted to monitor the effect, if any, of the site
reclamation works on local air quality.
The monitoring programme consists of a combination of fixed stations and ad hoc targeted
monitoring to determine emissions at source, cross boundary and off-site. Targeted monitoring is
undertaken to monitor both ambient conditions at particular parts of the site when no works are
taking place, and also around specific works thought to have the potential to liberate or generate
airborne contaminants. It is carried out using a combination of pumped samplers and passive
diffusion tubes.
Four permanent monitoring stations are located adjacent to the site boundary to assess crossboundary migration. Seven monitoring stations are located off-site, two of which are sufficiently
remote to be considered representative of baseline air quality. Meteorological conditions are
monitored using a standard Casella NEMESYS weather station, which includes measurement of
wind speed/direction, rainfall, barometric pressure, air temperature, relative humidity and solar
radiation.
The locations of the routine monitoring stations are as follows:
On-site stations
Off-site stations
Sampling
Equipment
APM950
Mini-vol
High
Volume
PUF Sampler
M-Type
Diffusion Tubes
Directional
Gauge
Station A
Station B
Station C
Station D
Station 1
Station 2
Station 3
Station 4
Station 5
Station 6
Station 7
at the NW of site, adjacent to the site village
at the NE of site,
at the SE of site, adjacent to the rail sidings
at the SW of site, to the west of Ruberoid
Press Lane, Old Tupton (Control station)
Hunloke Park Primary School, Wingerworth
Turnoaks Lane Industrial Estate, Chesterfield
Village Hall, Eastwood Park, Hasland
Avenue Farm, Chesterfield
BT Pensions Office, Mill Lane
Nursery School, Stretton (Control Station)
Location
Sample Type
Analysis
Frequency
Stations 1 to 6
and A to D
Station 7
Particulate (PM10)
Continuous
Fortnightly
Fortnightly
Stations 1
and A to D
Stations 1
and A to D
Stations 1
and A to D
Stations 1
and A to D
to 6
Particulate
and vapour
Particulate
PM10
Metals
Metals,
cyanide,
phenols
PAH and phenols
to 7
to 6
to 6
Particulate (PM10)
(PM10)
PAHs,
Fortnightly
Cyanide
Fortnightly
Vapour
Total VOCs and BTEX
Fortnightly
Particulate (Total)
Gravimetric dust analysis,
petrographic analysis and
obscuration
Monthly
RESULTS FOR FEBRUARY 2005
The results have been evaluated by comparison with the assessment criteria developed in the
Babtie report 'The Avenue Air Quality Management Programme Strategy Document' Issue 1, June
2002.
1.0
ROUTINE AIR MONITORING PROGRAMME
1.1
Alterations, Downtime and Technical Difficulties
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
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1.2
At the request of the cricket club station 3 has been out of operation since September 2001,
and despite protracted efforts to identify a suitable replacement station, none has been found.
Due to the length of time that the monitoring programme has been in operation without this or
an alternative station, the Client decided in January 2005 that the search for a replacement
should cease.
A power cut and failure of the back-up battery caused data to be lost from the station 4
APM950 between 11 and 15 February. The battery has now been replaced.
A fault with the automatic calibration system of the optical reader caused data collected
between 14 and 17 February by the station C APM 950 to be unusable. The fault has been
rectified.
Excess moisture in the Tenax tube from station C caused the instrument vacuum system to
trip, and the second monitoring period results were therefore lost.
PM10 Levels
No on or off-site monitoring stations Station 5 recorded levels of PM10 above the assessment
criteria of 50 µg/m3 per day during February 2005. Marginal results (between 40 and 50 µg/m3)
were recorded at off-site station 4 on 6 and 7 February.
1.3
Metals
The only metal currently falling under the control of the UK Air Quality Strategy is lead, at a
maximum concentration 0.5 g/m3 (quoted as an annual mean). Lead concentrations at all on and
off-site stations were recorded below this objective; the maximum level of lead recorded at any of
the stations was 0.0347 g/m3, which represents a fortnightly total.
Of the other metals monitored copper, manganese and zinc were found at the highest
concentrations at all stations (max copper = 0.0123 g/m3, max manganese = 0.0228 g/m3, max
zinc = 0.0866 g/m3).
All metals were below the assessment criteria developed for The Avenue site
1.4
Cyanide
No National Air Quality Standard has been developed for cyanide; the assessment criteria
suggested for the Avenue is a maximum concentration of 120 µg/m3 per fortnight. The maximum
concentration recorded on-site was 0.0158 g/m3 at station D during the first monitoring period; the
maximum recorded off-site was 0.0362 g/m3 at station 1 during the first monitoring period.
1.5
Phenol(s)
The assessment criteria limits for phenol and cresol are 48µg/m3 and 525µg/m3 per fortnight,
respectively.
As detailed below, the reporting of phenols is now subject to a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.2
g/m3; no results were reported at or above this level.
1.6
PAHs
The maximum allowable fortnightly concentration of Coal Tar Pitch Volatiles is 0.480µg/m 3, and for
naphthalene is 126.0 µg/m3. None of the on or off-site stations recorded concentrations which
exceeded these criteria. The highest recorded concentration of total coal tar pitch volatiles was
0.1402 µg/m3, at station C during the first period.
1.7
BTEX Compounds
The assessment criteria limits for benzene and toluene are 23 µg/m3 and 10.5 mg/m3 per fortnight,
respectively.
Levels of benzene were below detection limits at all stations during February 2005, whilst the
maximum toluene concentration was 0.0263 mg/m3, at station D during the first period.
1.8
Directional Gauge Results
The Avenue Air Monitoring Programme - Dust Deposition at all Locations
February 2005
350.00
300.00
South
2
Concentration mg/m /day
North
250.00
East
West
200.00
150.00
100.00
50.00
West
East
0.00
A
B
C
D
South
1
Monitoring Station
2
4
North
5
6
The Directional Dust Gauge result for station 5 exceeded the assessment criterion level of 200
mg/m2/day by a factor of more than three, being approximately 640 mg/m2/day. Petrographic
analysis of the dust indicates that that collected from the east comprised 33% unburnt coal, 22%
plant and animal fragments, 20% silicon rich material, 15% amorphous dirt, 8% calcium rich
material, and 2% iron rich material; from the west the dust comprised 85% plant and animal
fragments, 13% unburnt coal and 2% amorphous dirt.
The high proportions of plant and animal fragments and unburnt coal, together with the fact that no
other on or off site stations recorded elevated dust levels, suggest that the Avenue site is not the
primary source of the elevated levels recorded at station 5.
2.0
QUALITY CONTROL SAMPLES
Quality control samples were submitted in the form of duplicates for all sample media and blanks
for phenols, cyanide, metals, PAHs and BTEX.
2.1
Media Blanks
The analysis of media blanks identified no significant issues of cross-contamination during
February 2005.
2.2
Duplicates
Duplicate PM10 samples taken at station A correlated very well with original data over the
whole monitoring period.
Duplicate PAH results from station 1 correlated well with original data over both periods. The
only exceptions were the first period duplicate fluoranthene and pyrene results, which were
nearly eight and nine time higher than the original results, respectively.
No phenols results were reported above the new LOD of 0.2 µg/m 3. As a result duplicate
results from station 1 correlated exactly with original results over both periods.
The duplicate results for cyanide (taken at station A), metals (station A) and VOCs (station 6) all
correlated well with original samples over both periods.
3.0
TARGETED AIR MONITORING PROGRAMME
Targeted monitoring is undertaken around specific site activities considered to have the potential
to liberate airborne contaminants, and also to monitor ambient conditions when no works are
taking place. Due to the lack of activities considered to have the potential to generate or liberate
contaminants, no targeted monitoring was undertaken during this month.