All this talk about Kyoto... then Malta Transport Authority enforcement officers are informed that a police officer must be present when checking vehicles for exhaust emissions. The vehicle roadworthiness test (VRT) has so far failed miserably to regulate emissions on our roads.
The World Health Organisation's regional office for Europe has noted that the recently evaluated cost of air pollution to human health has been set at €16 billion. Long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) is particularly damaging to human health and reduces life expectancy.
Inhaled, the coarser particles (PM 10) - may reach the upper part of the airways and lung. Finer particles (PM 2.5), associated with diesel combustion, penetrate more deeply into the lung and may reach the alveolar region. Studies have been unable to identify a threshold concentration below which ambient particulate matter has no effect on health.
Reducing long-term particulate matter concentrations and exposure is a priority. WHO and the European Commission are working together on the long-term Clean Air for Europe (CAFE) programme to develop an integrated policy to protect health and the environment against significant negative effects of air pollution.
MEPA is to get half a million euros from the European Regional Development Fund to help finance the purchase of air monitoring equipment. We hope that the results of air quality monitoring will be made available to the public online. MEPA's present Website link for air quality monitoring is in dire need of an update with only two readings last posted in 2003 and 1999.
Nitrates derogation
Solid facts and figures about the growing number of pigs and cows on farms in Malta and Gozo have been released. The increase seems to be a reversal in policy from pre-accession statements indicating that the herds would be reduced in number while efficiency would be upgraded to meet production. Instead the opposite is true. A pig census held last December shows an increase of five per cent overall while the cattle herd has increased by around eight per cent.
This may benefit farmers but more animal waste is a potential threat to the quality of our groundwater, whether it is spread on the fields as manure or discharged illegally into the environment. Farms in Malta and Gozo are typically small, often run by part-timers and worked intensively with two to three crops per year. Applications of fertilser have been known to be far in excess of permitted amounts resulting in heavy leaching of nitrates into ground water with associated health concerns.
The Maltese government must presently be watching with interest the latest EU Commission decision on the Nitrates Directive. In Malta there are huge issues surrounding the financial side of applying this directive. Engineering solutions to keeping nitrates from farm waste out of the aquifer are expensive.
Denmark, well known for its herds and dairy products, has recently asked the EU Commission for more time to meet the directive which was drawn up in 1991 to protect ground water from agricultural pollution. The Danish request was granted last month.
This is one of Europe's most problematic directives. It is especially so for Malta since the entire aquifer underlying these islands has been declared a "Nitrate Vulnerable Zone", being immediately sensitive and prone to contamination by any excessive nitrates from fertiliser or manure.
Nitrate levels found in ground water sampled at some Maltese boreholes are still above safe readings. In Gozo the situation is even more sensitive. In such cases "polishing", or blending with high quality water produced by reverse osmosis, is resorted to in order to bring the nitrate level down to a safe margin in drinking water. But this is not enough to satisfy the relevant directive.
While the Water Framework Directive lays down a safety level of 50 mg per litre in drinking water the Nitrates Directive specifies that the same quality standard also applies to basic ground water.
The transition period for meeting the Nitrates Directive which was granted to Malta during pre-accession negotiations runs out at the end of this year. It is not expected that we will reach more than nominal compliance since full compliance means ground water contains less than 50 mg per litre. Efforts to promote better farm waste management regarding the collection and storage of nitrates are being made at a high cost to the farmer but much more has to be done.
The problem of nitrates in groundwater can be partly alleviated by having a long growing season and plants with high nitrogen uptake. Danish farmers now have a ceiling of 230 kg per hectare in a year. However they must apply individually for the derogation and keep a careful account of how much fertiliser they apply in relation to the nitrogen uptake of the crop.
The Danish government, while asking for the derogation in the form of an extended time period to meet the target, was able to demonstrate that between 1990 and 2003 nitrate leaching had been reduced by 42 per cent in loamy soils and 52 per cent in sandy soils. This helped persuade the commission that they were getting closer to meeting the Europe-wide standard for ground water quality.
Another condition worked into the Danish derogation is that grass crops, which are very useful in the prevention of nitrate leaching, shall not be ploughed until March, in order to ensure permanent cover throughout the wet winters when leaching is highest. The Department of Agriculture recommends that no applications of fertiliser on Maltese fields take place between October and May.
Other improvements needed are better data on exceeded levels and mandatory restrictions on how much and when nitrates can be applied. A technical support system for farmers including soil and manure sampling must be put in place and appropriate legislation applied. Monitoring must be done on both fresh water in aquifers and at marine testing points along the coast. Remediation measures must be drawn up and a report is to be issued every four years with an action plan revised accordingly. The Water Framework Directive provides the background for addressing other pollutants in water such as phosphorous and pesticides.
Last month the European Greens voted against an attempt to weaken a directive, still in draft form, on new groundwater protection laws. Green MEPs noted that the use of averaging to hide pollution that exceeds agreed levels would seriously undermine the protection of groundwater resources. The Greens wanted the most dangerous pollutants to at least be identified and prevented from infiltrating into ground water.
In Malta a draft water policy document was presented at a workshop held over a year ago, stirring hopes that this would provide a solid foundation for sustainable water use. The chairman of the Malta Resources Authority remarked at the time, "It is essential that the National Water Policy is accepted by government and that legislation will follow as an outcome". One year later we are still floundering in wet cement with nothing solid to show for it.
In answer to a recent parliamentary question, the Minister for Resources and Infrastructure has admitted that illegal boreholes are difficult to trace as they are often hidden inside garages. He added that areas which remained green in the month of August might indicate illegal use of groundwater.
Who is responsible for monitoring theft of groundwater, described by some sources as rampant? The Water Services Corporation, green wardens, the police... where are the watchdogs who should be controlling this illegal activity, so damaging to both the quantity and quality of our fragile water resource? When contacted with this question the WSC advised that the inquiry be forwarded to the Malta Resources Authority. The MRA appears to remain toothless as illegal operators continue to siphon off the single national resource which is essential to survival of life on these islands.
GMO status of Maltese potatoes
It is very good news that a niche has been found for Maltese potatoes on the German market. There may have been room for improvement when planning the label design. The opportunity to promote tourism with a picture of a traditional fishing boat was irresistible, although it seems a little out of place sailing across a bag of potatoes.
The consumer could be forgiven for mistaking our homegrown spuds for a bag of frozen fish that wandered into the vegetable section by mistake. Artistic license might have been more successfully applied if the a label depicted a farmer hoeing his fields under a historic bastion. Even if there are no potato fields of note within sight of Mdina this is much more to the point. European consumers are probably more concerned with food safety than the mysterious appearance of a luzzu on their bag of pommes de terre.
Can the potatoes being exported to Germany be certified free of any genetically modified elements? The Minister for Rural Development told journalists last month that most farmers are using seed provided by the Dutch seed company Agrico. It is worth noting that Agrico has a branch which conducts research in genetic engineering and we are well aware of the attactiveness a small island could offer as a laboratory for such experiments. Local consumers may well be the first to feel they have a right to know what is in their potatoes.
A helpful Website with news about the latest developments in the GMO debate is hosted by the Organic Consumers Association based in Minnesota, USA, at www.organicconsumers.org. A recent news item quotes Germany's consumer protection minister on the "unbelievable sloppiness" over genetically engineered crops because American farmers have no system in place for labeling GMOs and tracing them back to their producers.
The scientific journal Nature reported in March that Bt10 maize, an experimental crop that has not been permitted for human consumption, had been "mistakenly" sold to farmers in the US. This genetically modified strain maize contains an antibiotic resistant gene that the European Food Safety Authority states should not be used commercially.
The EU is demanding proof that the imported corn products do not include any Bt10, an unapproved GMO which has turned up in products containing the approved Bt11 variety. Friends of the Earth Europe is insisting that governments must in the future have the ability to test for the presence of unlicensed GMOs and demand that imports do not contain any genetic element which is unapproved.
GMOs run contrary to organic farming despite the idea of "co-existence" being promoted by the GM lobby. Next month offers an opportunity to get to know your farmer directly and experience a first hand encounter with healthy food production. Visit the organic growers located on the turn-off to Ghajn Tuffieha from Golden Bay. The Gaia Fest is being held over the long weekend of Sette Giugno, starting on Friday, June 3, at 6 p.m., until the following Tuesday.
Laboratory accreditation
As part of the Eurachem General Assembly 2005, the Malta Standards Authority is holding a three-day workshop starting tomorrow at the Preluna Hotel.
Now that governments are securing huge funds to rectify pollution problems and recycle waste, standards of accreditation for tests on environmental samples is gaining in importance. Without proficient laboratories using standard methodologies funding could be lost. Laboratories servicing the food, agriculture, pharmaceutical and environmental sectors with testing, measurement and analysis must adopt ISO 17025.
A supporting infrastructure is sometimes lacking at national level, Understanding of traceability and other issues are often overlooked. Among those who would benefit from the workshop are end-users of data produced by laboratories such as ministries, public authorities and regulatory bodies.