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| TOP NEWS | Sunday, 12 August 2007 Mistake paves way for Marsa hazardous waste incinerator The abattoir incinerator at Albert Town in Marsa, as approved by MEPA in 2005, was designed to incinerate a staggering 12,910 tonnes of animal and food derived waste a year. But a study carried out by the Management Efficiency Unit in 2006 concluded that the amount of abattoir waste that can be incinerated amounts to just 3,460 tonnes.
This emerges from the Environmental Impact Study for the upgraded plant, which is now set to incinerate hospital waste and hazardous waste from factories. Writing in 2005 a few weeks before he passed away, MaltaToday journalist Julian Manduca was the first to note that the amount of waste generated by the abattoir was a far cry from the amounts needed by the new incinerator. The DPA report, on the basis of which the incinerator was originally approved in 2006, states clearly that the plant will have a capacity of 12,970 tonnes/annum and is intended to operate on a continuous 24 hour, 7 days a week basis. This volume of waste was required to ensure that the incinerator would operate all year round. But the new EIS states that if the current incinerator were operated as approved by MEPA in 2006, it would be necessary to switch the incinerator on and off regularly – with negative environmental and financial repercussions. The only way to keep the plant operational for 24 hours a day for most of the year is to add new streams which would include the incineratation of hazardous industrial waste and clinical waste from hospitals. The EIS shows that with some small modifications, the plant could be used to incinerate clinical, pharmaceutical and hazardous waste. Now the incineration of the new streams is deemed necessary to make the plant operational 24 hours a day for most of the year. “Since this is the only way to run an incinerator as opposed to starting and stopping it regularly, the modifications to the plant are fully justified,” the EIS states. Every year the new plant will be taking 780 tonnes of clinical waste, 3,863 tonnes of industrial sludge, 3,061 tonnes of spent solvents an 11,201 tonnes of organic waste. The latter will include both abattoir and airport waste. The major advantage of the new plant is that it will provide a facility for hazardous waste which is currently stored in various sites around Malta. It also eliminates the need for a hazardous waste landfill. The EIS states that there will be no significant increase of pollution in Marsa due to the new plant.
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NEWS | Sunday, 12 August 2007 PN support in Gozo in free-fall Bortex fires Maltese, hires Chinese Forget the bedpans, let’s talk travel plans… ‘Our pharmacy licences are now safe and more valuable than ever’ AFM calls off search for missing migrants Musicians give hope to immigrants Mangion stands by Pender Place sale Mangion stands by Pender Place sale European gays appoint Maltese activist as policy officer Ostreopsis not an alien species Rockers, relax – cult programme will be back MMA official bluffed with junior to corrupt him Mistake paves way for Marsa hazardous waste incinerator PBS schedule ‘turned into auction’ UTV fracas: Former director to sue priest for libel To Gozo, and beyond Rector wants a ‘Gozitan Lourdes’ in Ta’ Pinu The road to Smart City – over 600m of tarmac through arable land |