Developing rehabilitation strategies for Maghtab, Qortin and Wied Fulija

The primary objective of the Scott Wilson Report commissioned in May 2002, was to develop strategies for the rehabilitation of the Maghtab, Qortin and Wied Fulija landfill sites in line with the Solid Waste Management Strategy for the Maltese Islands document published in October 2001.

The report is divided into four main stages, including the initial studies, physical investigations, environmental assessments and strategy development and specifications preparation for the eventual remedial actions identified, necessary following the investigation.

Capital funding for the rehabilitation projects totalling €8.4 million has now been secured through European Union structural funding. The works will be undertaken under one or more contracts in accordance with EU requirements. After completion of the handover period, responsibility for managing the system will rest with the Maltese government.

The first stage of the report consisted of meetings with interested stakeholders to collect and review existing data, to identify any data gaps and to design and commission works for the next stage, of the project consisting of the ground investigation and associated environmental monitoring, sampling and testing. During this first stage interested parties were consulted and invited to express their particular views on both the current condition of the sites and also their desires for post-restoration and after use.

This consultation process culminated in a stakeholder workshop that took place in June 2002. During this workshop, there was a general consensus that the visual appearance of the landfills and their aerial emissions are unacceptable and need to be ameliorated. The aspirations for after-use are varied and range from passive recreation through to more active pursuits. Although there are numerable potential after-uses for each site, there are limitations to what is feasible to construct on the restored surfaces as a result of the extent of contamination.

The second stage of the report comprised of a ground investigation and associated sampling and environmental monitoring. The investigation was targeted at identifying the extent of the combustion underground, the extent of the pollution by the waste materials, the aerial emissions, the potential for landfill gas generation and off-site migration, the quantity and potential rates of leachate, the leachate quality and potential for pollution of surface water, groundwater and the near shore marine environment and the ground instability.

The results from this second stage did not identify liquid seepage into the ground and neither did it show contamination of the marine environment. Results have shown that there were no elevated concentrations of dioxins, potentially emitted by landfill fires on the local agricultural soil near each of the sites.

The water quality in the vicinity of each landfill was generally found to be similar to elsewhere in the Maltese Islands. However there was evidence of general bacteriological contamination of groundwater, which could relate to the presence of the landfill or local agricultural practices such as the use of animal slurry as fertilizer.

The third stage of the project consisted of taking the results of the investigations in combination with other available information to form the basis of formal risk assessments. The results of this study have defined a number of immediate and longer-term actions for the rehabilitation of Maghtab, Qortin and Wied Fulija landfills that will be implemented in a number of phases.

The rehabilitation project will involve the installation of environmental monitoring systems, recontouring the waste within the site boundaries to form access roads and level working platforms, drilling into the waste for steel well installation and the construction of a secure compound to house a gas management plant where the gases collected from the waste masses in the surroundings of Maghtab will be treated.

Public access is most likely to be achieved earliest at Qortin with partial access to the landward side of Wied Fulija later. Some considerable time (many decades) is likely to be required for stabilisation/restoration of Maghtab to a condition suitable for uncontrolled public access over the whole site.

The fourth part of the report, which was finalised last December, consisted in the preparation of the tender specifications for the collection and treatment of the hazardous emissions based on the findings of the third stage of the report.

The third and fourth part of the report go hand in hand, and now that the fourth part has been completed, the whole Scott Wilson Report can be released to the public and potential tenderers.

Ing. Vince Magri is chief executive officer of WasteServ Malta Ltd.