Incident Air Monitoring Services Contract

Tender description

Air Quality Incident Management Lot 1: The Air Quality Cell (AQC) service was formed in 2009 to implement recommendation 21 of the Buncefield Inquiry following the major explosion and fire at a fuel depot there in December 2005. The primary element of the AQC service is the Air Quality Cell (AQC) which is a virtual team of technical experts who can rapidly convene to assess the public health and environmental risks posed by emissions from large scale explosions, fires or chemical releases. The core members of the AQC are the Environment Agency (EA), UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the Meteorological Office (MO), the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Local Authority in whose area the major incident has arisen. To inform their assessment of the public health and environmental risks posed by emissions from a relevant major incident, the AQC may require air quality data and samples to be obtained on a 24/7/365 response basis. On behalf of Defra the EA is responsible for the provision and maintenance of the required monitoring and sampling capability