Cruise ship emissions are in pollution data
THE effect on air quality from visiting cruise liners is monitored, according to Environmental Health and Pollution Regulation.
But even taking into account the emissions from the ships, air quality standards have not been breached.
An undercover reporter for Channel 4's Dispatches programme sailed aboard the P&O vessel, Oceana, which is a regular visitor to Guernsey.
The programme claimed that cruise ships were subject to fewer environmental regulations when they were outside territorial waters. They used heavy oil, which had a sulphur content 3,500-times greater than that of road fuel. It said that one cruise ship could emit as much particulate matter in one day as a million cars.
Tobin Cook, director of environmental health and pollution regulation, said his office monitored air pollution around the island using a combination of real-time monitoring and diffusion tubes.
'Whilst this monitoring does not specifically target emissions from cruise ships, their emissions will be included in the data and the times of visiting cruise ships can be cross-referenced to quantify their impact over normal ambient air quality levels,' he said.
Guernsey's real-time air quality data can be viewed at http://bit.ly/2uKuJ7X.
