New air-quality monitoring stations being funded by the Government to test for potentially harmful emissions do not meet regulatory standards, The Royal Gazette has learnt.

The six new stations, which come at a cost to the taxpayer of $215,034, could instead show where larger machines might be needed to assess for breaches of pollution regulations.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the smaller, portable units — cheaper than those used before — were selected owing to “budgetary constraints”.

The Government’s previous air monitoring programme used three regulatory-standard stations, but was halted in 2022 to save $230,000.

As reported yesterday, renewed funding in air quality monitoring came after Belco, the island’s power company, faced protests related to its emissions and a more recent public outcry over a dramatic increase in the price of electricity, which now looks set to be scaled back.

The home affairs ministry spokesman said: “Due to budgetary constraints, the Government's $230,000 per annum air quality programme was cut on March 31, 2022, and the revised air quality programme, using more portable monitoring stations from April 1, 2023 [to March 31, 2024], will cost $215,034 per annum for the first year.

“The portable monitoring stations may highlight other locations where larger, regulatory-grade monitoring stations may need to be located to determine if the Clean Air Regulations, and revised Clean Air Regulations under the forthcoming Clean Air Act Amendment Bill, are being exceeded.”

An additional large, regulatory-grade monitoring station located at East Broadway will remain in place, the spokesman said.

The six portable monitoring stations will be located at: East Broadway, for comparison and correlation with the regulatory-standard unit; Prospect, for monitoring of the Tynes Bay Waste-to-Energy plant — replacing a large regulatory-standard station at that site; Ocean Lane, Saltus Grammar School, and The Berkeley Institute, all in Pembroke; and Waller’s Point Road, St David's, to monitor the clinical waste incinerator and crematorium.

Locations of the units were determined by “the proximity to emission sources of combustion-related processes, key receptors and availability of electrical connections”, the spokesman said.

The Bermuda Clean Air Coalition was launched in 2020 to campaign against pollution from Belco’s North Power Station that was commissioned the same year.

Areas surrounding the St John’s Road plant in Pembroke have experienced high levels of sulphur dioxide, soot fallout and fume odours.

Wayne Caines, the president of Belco and its parent company Liberty, has blamed the problems on Belco optimising the station for liquefied natural gas but having to burn heavy fuel oil after the Regulatory Authority refused LNG for use in Bermuda in its Integrated Resource Plan.

In order to mitigate the pollution, the firm has burnt diesel.

The air quality monitoring station that was previously at Ocean Lane near Belco detected levels of sulphur dioxide that exceed the UK/EU Air Quality Objective that Bermuda aims to come in line with through upcoming amendments to the Clean Air Act.

The UK/EU Air Quality Objective sets the maximum number of sulphur dioxide exceedences over a 15-minute period at 35 per year whereas the Ocean Lane unit detected 63 exceedences in 2021.

The Environmental Authority noted in the minutes of a meeting held in April: “The Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Belco are both looking for sites for an ambient air monitoring station near Ocean Lane and Whitney Avenue.

“It was noted that pole-mounted sensors, whilst not United States Environmental Protection Agency certified, are being investigated for deployment by DENR as a good screening method.

“Their readings will help determine the most suitable site for a US EPA certified air monitoring station. It was noted that prosecutions under the Clean Air Regulations 1993 are more likely to be successful when completed using data collected from US EPA certified air monitoring stations.

“The environmental engineer added that the air quality monitoring programme is being reviewed in light of government funding being reinstated for financial year 2023-24.

“It is anticipated that there will be one certified station and one pole-mounted sensor at East Broadway and several pole-mounted sensors located around Belco with one at Prospect.”

The Environmental Authority was asked for comment.