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News •
March 7 2004 |
A waste facility is being developed within Maghtab
Julian Manduca
The head of WasteServ’s Strategy, Communications and Development told his radio audience last week that work has started on a hazardous waste landfill cell at Ghallis, but investigations by MaltaToday concluded that no such work had started.
Ing Christopher Ciantar was replying questions put to him by Friends of the Earth chairman Professor Edward Mallia a week ago. Mallia asked Ciantar what will happen to the hazardous waste come May 1 and Ciantar replied that work had started in earnest to develop a hazardous waste cell at Ghallis.
MaltaToday’s photographer scouted the area this week and could find no evidence of a waste landfill cell in preparation.
When MaltaToday contacted Ciantar to ask about the preparation of a hazardous waste cell, the question was avoided, but Ciantar said a facility was being prepared at Maghtab: “the clean excavation material at Maghtab is being utilised for daily cover of MSW. This utilisation of material consequently creates some space for a secure cell. Therefore, this facility will be developed within the existing Maghtab boundary.” It is not clear what the facility in Maghtab is to be used for.
If Malta is to be compliant with EU regulations it should have an engineered landfill for both municipal and hazardous waste separately, but possibly on the same site, by 1 May.
As things stand an application has been made for municipal landfills near the Neolithic temples of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra, and one for the development of a hazardous waste landfill at Ghallis.
The Environment Impact Assessment for a more permanent landfill and the hazardous cell at Ghallis is not yet complete and no official decision has been taken that Ghallis will host a landfill.
According to EU directives all waste entering a landfill must be treated prior to its dumping in the landfill, but confusion exists as to what sort of treatment will be applied to Malta’s waste.
At a seminar about waste separation last week a question was put to a WasteServ official about the treatment, and the reply was vague with some indication that waste would be compacted following its dumping in the landfill.
Malta’s problems are however further compounded because 1 May should see Malta replacing both Maghtab and Qortin with an EU compliant landfill. This would involve the operation of a transfer station to bring waste from Gozo to Malta and also the treatment of waste prior to placement in the landfill, but the equipment required is not expected to be in place come 1 May.
Minister Ninu Zammit had said that once permits are obtained for a landfill it would take three months to ‘build’ and prepare it so as to accept waste. MaltaToday asked Ing Ciantar what the likely scenario is now that we are less than two months before accession date.
Ciantar said: “In the absence of a landfill being ready on May 1, drastic short-term solutions will have to be taken. However, there are only very limited options available and none of these may serve for more than a few months.
“With regards to the duration of three months this is highly dependent on what permit conditions are stipulated by MEPA if and when this is awarded.
“In the meantime, all efforts are being made to follow the EIA procedure as well as to engage a contractor for the supply of materials and the development of the facility. Both the contractor and the procured materials will be needed irrespective of where the landfill is sited.”
Asked if fines from the EU could have been avoided if the waste strategy was speeded up he said: “Having a controlled engineered landfill is not simply a matter of avoiding EU fines. The Maltese community does not deserve an unsustainable site like Maghtab to continue to be in operation.
“Dumping in an uncontrolled manner is simply not an option. The EU landfill directive, now transposed as national legislation, obliges member states to follow rigid environmentally acceptable criteria and after May 1 all existing sites that remain operational may too be subject to these criteria.
“Therefore, if sites like Maghtab and Qortin are still operational by 1 May, they too may fall under the obligations of this directive. Each and every one of us must understand that if an attempt is made to operate Maghtab in line with these legal obligations this would mean an even greater expense than the fines themselves.”
Quizzed about what was happening at Ghallis Ciantar told MaltaToday: “Despite the criticism, the EIA for this development is on-going but the Terms of Reference for the Ghallis facility requires much further detailed investigations when compared to the interim facility.
“This is because the project at Ghallis does not rely on disused quarries but on excavation to accommodate a 20-year facility. The quality of the rock and its usefulness when extracted as well as other issues which are irrelevant for the interim site are all issues that need to be researched in depth.”
julian@newsworksltd.com
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