The environment NGOs Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, Friends of the Earth, NatureTrust and Ramblers are greatly concerned by the major public health issues involved in the emissions of the proposed Delimara Power Station extension to be run on heavy fuel oil. This technology demands that there be strict monitoring of the operation of the pollution control equipment requiring the added complication and major expense of disposing of the hazardous waste. This prospect is even more alarming given the Auditor General’s revelation that the decision to go ahead with this project was taken in the absence of a contract for the export of the hazardous waste to be produced by the Delimara Power Station extension.
The NGOs maintain that export of the waste to a third world country, exposing its inhabitants to toxic effects due to the lack of safety standards, is a far from satisfactory solution, given Malta’s claims of support for developing countries.
Even if the system works perfectly, Enemalta itself admits that a logistics failure preventing regular export of the hazardous waste will mean an interruption in power generation, with consequent power cuts as recently experienced. The alternative would be to dump the waste in some local out-of-the way site. The risk of grave environmental damage which is too high is unacceptable, and it is compounded by our very limited land area.
It cannot be assumed that local dumping would not be resorted to. This has just happened, albeit on a small scale, in the case of the fly ash from the Marsa precipitators. It would seem that MEPA was aware of the Enemalta/Polidano fly ash contract, which had been allowed to run for four years, even though the necessary permits were not in place. When MEPA woke up, the Infrastructure Minister reacted in typical fashion by switching off the precipitators, exposing the hapless inhabitants downwind of the Marsa power station to the deposition of black dust. MEPA further complicated the saga, pleading a chronic manpower shortage for collecting samples and a national incompetence in carrying out a piece of straightforward analysis.
When asked to consider the use of diesel/gasoil instead of heavy fuel oil for the Delimara Power Station extension, the Minister of Finance said that there was nothing to prevent government from doing so other than the higher electricity unit cost due to the price of gasoil. On the other hand, this higher price could be offset by the fact that expensive collection and export of hazardous waste, with its dangers of power cuts, would not be needed.
The environment NGOs therefore suggest Government forgets about the pollution removal equipment required for heavy fuel oil (HFO) and use gasoil. No contracts for hazardous waste disposal would be required, even if nitrogen oxides removal equipment had to be operated. The products in this case would be just oxygen and nitrogen which do not carry the long-term threats to human health of HFO. The NGOs maintain that they cannot accept an option which carries a serious threat to public health. They therefore ask both sides of the House to agree on a motion requiring Enemalta to use gasoil and not HFO as fuel for the BWSC engines.
In view of the Auditor General’s report, the NGOs also ask Mepa to determine whether incorrect statements were made during the application process for a permit for the power station extension, regarding whether contracts are in place for the removal of fly ash. If this is confirmed, the Mepa Board should revoke the permit on the basis of article 39A (1) of the Development Planning Act.