Mepa slammed over petrol station permit

Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar have expressed their concern at the decision by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority to allow the construction of a petrol station at Buqana in the valley beneath Rabat, on the road between Mdina and Ta' Qali.

"The approval of the site is even more astounding, given that a permit for another petrol station nearby was refused on the grounds of unsuitability to the rural landscape in an area categorised by Mepa as Out Of Development Zone," the environment NGO said.

The refusal of the other petrol station application came about despite a Mepa board member stating that its siting would have been less damaging to the landscape, it said.

This refusal was confirmed at the appeal stage as recently as February.

"While the area is designated as 'suitable for agro-tourism', Mepa found justifiable reasons to refuse an application for the building of research rooms for a vineyard close by. Yet, the petrol station, complete with canopy, car-wash and shop was approved.

"If for nothing else, this permit should have been refused due to the fact that the site overlies the mean sea level aquifer, the island's most important source of drinking water, and is surrounded by the Water Services Corporation's potable water boreholes to the north and east of the site, with the galleries of the Ta' Qali pumping station to the east. 

"This means carcinogenic hydrocarbons and vehicle emissions may end up in rainwater runoff that fills the aquifer, or directly in the aquifer in the event of a leak or major spill," Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar said.