[Report 1955] / Medical Officer of Health, Dover Town and Port.

  • Dover (England). Town and Port Council.
Date:
1955
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1955] / Medical Officer of Health, Dover Town and Port. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    respectively. From an interview with the occupier of the laundry it transpired that a new boiler fitted with a mechanical stoker had recently been installed but, the mechanical stoker having broken down, temporary resort was being had to hand firing. Following the repair of the mechanical stoker, observation revealed that the nuisance from the emission of smoke had been abated and no further complaint was received. Complaint was also received regarding a smoke nuisance from railway engines in the British Railways Motive Power Depot at Beach Street. The nuisance occurred at the height of the summer cross- channel traffic when, of course, there were many heavy boat trains to be hauled to London and this, coupled with the fact that all lines out of Dover are on an up-gradient, meant that many engines were in the area waiting to get up maximum steam pressure. The following is an extract from the Senior Sanitary Inspector’s report on his investigation of the complaint “To the south-west of Beach Street are some engine sheds, housing at this time of year some 46 engines. Between these sheds and the Marine Station are several lines of track, as well as the main line to Folkestone, a turn-table, watering points and a coaling stage. Engines are constantly on the move between the sheds and the Marine Station, taking on coal and water, being turned round and shunting on to different lines. “ Observations have been made in the mornings of 25th August and 1st September, in the early afternoon of 26th August, in the evening of the 28th August and the late afternoon of 30th August. On each occasion there were about twelve engines in the area, practic- ally all of which were moving about and blowing off steam and some smoke; there always appeared to be much more steam than smoke. On 28th August and 1st September atmospheric pressure was very heavy, air movement was practically nil and low cloud persisted, and it was noticeable that the steam and smoke took a very long time to disperse. “ From these observations it would appear that although at times there may well have been a nuisance, this nuisance was caused by the combined amount of smoke from several engines and that the amount emitted from any individual engine was not sufficient to cause a nuisance.” By order of the Health Committee the complaint was referred to the British Railways Executive requesting that instructions be given to the supervisory staff and engine men with a view to obviating cause for further complaint. Clean Air Bill In dealing with these and other complaints of air pollution re- ceived in this Department from time to time, the practical limitations of smoke abatement law have become increasingly apparent, and while