A MAJOR project to monitor air quality in the Ribble Valley is to get under way within the next couple of weeks.

Environment watchdogs will be in the area for eight weeks to check on chimneys at the Castle Cement, ICI and Tarmac plants around Clitheroe, it was announced today.

The Environment Agency has worked closely with Ribble Valley Council to devise a monitoring programme and the results will provide valuable information about air quality. The monitoring has been commissioned by the Environment Agency and during the eight weeks a mobile laboratory will be used for two weeks to track plumes of smoke from the chimney stacks.

Watchdogs in the laboratory will use a laser device to watch plumes and they will be able to detect the numbers and concentrations of pollutants in them.

This latest phase of monitoring follows on from a programme which was commissioned by the agency's predecessor, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution, in August 1995.

The agency's regional general manager Ian Handyside said: "Results from the monitoring programme will significantly improve our understanding of air quality in the Ribble Valley and will help the council develop its longer term monitoring strategy for the area."

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