AIR QUALITY AT RESIDENTIAL ESTATES

AIR QUALITY AT RESIDENTIAL ESTATES: * * *

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(Improvement measures): **

2.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether the Ministry is satisfied that the air quality at residential estates where sand and gravel stockpiles are located is within healthy levels; and (b) whether there are measures that can be taken to further reduce the quantity of dust particles blowing into the housing estates.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Stockpile sites are chosen with several considerations in mind. A key consideration is to minimise environmental impact on the surrounding areas.

Our stockpiles are meant to be static stocks, which means that once they are built up, there will be minimal activities at the sites. Once the materials settle down and compact, and there will be negligible dust dispersion from the sites.

While the stockpiles are being built up, the air quality in their vicinity is closely monitored. For example, in the recent build-up of the stockpile in Lim Chu Kang, our Ambient Air Monitoring study showed that the 24-hour average reading for PM10 (particulate matters less than 10 micro-metre in size) was well within the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) set by the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency).

Dust suppression and mitigating measures are also put in place during the building-up of the stockpiles. These include the deployment of water tankers and sprinklers system to clean the delivery truck tyres and surrounding roads.

We are satisfied that the air quality in the housing estates near to all our stockpile sites is within healthy levels.

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