Brussels - European Union citizens are now able to check how bad for their health industrial plants near their homes are, after the EU's executive on Monday opened an online tracker for the main pollutants. The register "will give citizens direct access to information on (pollution) emissions from facilities across Europe and will help them to engage actively in decisions affecting the environment," EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in a statement.
The register collects pollution data from around 24,000 industrial plants, ranging from incinerators to factories, across the EU.
For each plant, it lists the types and amount of pollutant the facility pumped into the air, water and ground, and how much it shipped elsewhere.
For example, the main incinerator in Brussels pumped out 493,000 tons of carbon dioxide, 801 tons of nitrogen oxides, 44 kilograms of arsenic and 33 kilos of mercury in 2007.
The Corus UK steelworks in north-eastern England emitted a cocktail of harmful gases and liquids including carbon monoxide (88,700 tons) and hydrogen cyanide (2 tons) in the same year.
Visitors to the website can search for a specific place name or facility, or browse according to location, type of business or pollutant.
The tracker is available online at: http://prtr.ec.europa.eu
