Pollution

Riga's air pollution has started to make headaches to Latvia - we have received warning from EU for air quality inadequacy to EU standards and probably will be charged with about 300 000 EUR fine (however, only Lithuania, Ireland, Finland and Luxembourg haven't recieved similar warnings). Here you see a control station measuring air quality on Brīvības street. Pollution of PM10 micro particles (which is created mainly by the sand and salt mixture on streets in winter, and the natural salt-water resources around the city) exceeds the norm 3 times - it's allowed to have 35 days in year when the pollution of them can be above the standard, but Rigans in 2009 had about 100 such days. Also pollution of NO2 (which is raised mainly by transport and the heating of private houses) exceeds the norms. Btw, there is another one city in Latvia which exceeds the pollution norms - it's Liepāja (3rd largest). It is much smaller than Riga and there lives only ~85 000 people, but the metallurgical industry giant "Liepājas Metalurgs" is operating there, that could be the explanation (the factory is modernising currently, changing the type of furnaces, after the reconstruction it should be much less polluting). Minor problems with pollution is observable also in 2nd largest city Daugavpils (~110 000 people) and 7th largest Rēzekne where levels of pollution sometimes comes close to the norm.