Green light for Ghallis landfill

The proposed engineered landfill at Ghallis ta' Gewwa received the green light from the Malta Environment and Planning Authority board yesterday.

The landfill - consisting of a facility for non-hazardous waste with a seven-year lifetime and a smaller, hazardous waste facility that will serve for 20 years - is to start operating in the coming months.

The first of two cells at Ghallis, situated closer to the old Maghtab dump, will be dug and start receiving waste later this year, while the second, deeper cell will be dug in due course. At a public meeting yesterday, WasteServ chief executive officer Vince Magri urged the Mepa board to make a decision saying that the present facility at Ta' Zwejra would fill up "very soon".

According to the environment impact statement, the Ghallis landfill will have a total capacity of 1.7 million cubic metres of non-hazardous waste, at a filling rate of 250,000 tonnes of waste per year.

The section of Ghallis landfill which takes hazardous waste - with a total capacity of 100,000 cubic metres - will serve for 20 years at a rate of 5,000 cubic metres of hazardous waste arriving at the landfill each year.

The project also involves the construction of a facility to treat hazardous waste and a gas and leachate control system. The landfill's capacity has been greatly reduced since the government had originally stated that Ghallis would serve for 20 years. The original footprint was roughly halved to reduce the impact on the neighbouring tourist area. The height of the landfill, originally at 30 metres above the maximum ground level, was also slashed to mitigate the visual impact. The remainder of the site may, however, be developed at some later stage subject to another impact assessment.

Among the objections raised from members of the public were lorries' access to the landfill, the effect of rock blasting on dwellings close by, the dust and smells coming out of the site and financial compensation for expropriated land. According to Mepa, access to Ghallis will be from the old Maghtab entrance. However, lorries will not be allowed to pass through the hamlet itself but will be diverted through Triq ir-Ramla towards the Bahar ic-Caghaq coast road.

A Maghtab resident said this was objectionable, insisting that lorries should be made to enter and exit the landfill through a road leading to Salina close to the Ghallis tower.

Mepa chairman Andrew Calleja said this would be considered in the future if an application is submitted.

One condition imposed by the authority is that lorries will have their wheels washed of the dust before exiting the site and WasteServ will be guaranteeing road maintenance close to the landfill entrance.

Another condition is the monitoring of noise and smells during operation.

The project was subject to an integrated pollution prevention and control permit. The proliferation of rats and other pests will be controlled through good waste management practices.

The Environment Ministry said the government was investing Lm3.5 million to improve Malta's waste management facilities.

"The Ghallis engineered landfill is the best proof that the government never intended to send all the waste generated to the Sant'Antnin recycling plant, contrary to what has been alleged during months of misinformation," the ministry said.