Yellow fumes at St Neots power station nothing to worry about
yellow fumes at Little Barford Power Station - Credit: Archant
THE operators of Little Barford Power Station have insisted there is nothing to fear from the yellow plumes of smoke coming from its chimneys.
The Hunts Post has been contacted by people living near the gas powered station who were concerned about the strange coloured fumes.
Npower, which runs the plant and recently spent £100million upgrading the station, said the yellow and orange emissions were caused by “high nitrogen dioxide levels” when the station starts up.
The Environment Agency, which has investigated concerns about the smoke, said the fumes are typically seen in the morning, before 6am, and are not harmful.
It said the station was working within regulations.
Peter Robinson, engineering manager at Little Barford Power Station, said: “RWE has recently invested £100m upgrading Little Barford Power Station improving efficiency and reducing nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 70 per cent.
“The power station chimney plume is normally colourless. However, when starting up the power station there may be a discolouration of the plume for a short period of time.
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“All emissions are continuously monitored and are tightly regulated by the Environment Agency.”
The yellow smoke lasts for about 20 minutes before the station is operating at capacity.
An Environment Agency spokesman said: “The impact on air quality from these short periods of daily start-up have been assessed as being acceptable to the environment and human health.”
