Tests still being carried out to assess damage

The experts working on the spill of aviation fuel from an Enemalta storage facility in Birżebbuġa are still carrying out tests aimed at assessing what sort of environmental damage was caused, three weeks after the leak.

The Malta Resources Authority has a three-pronged plan which will have them lift samples from two water sources and soil in the area but no test results are in yet and it might take another few weeks.

The MRA's CEO, Antoine Riolo said there was no fixed time frame so far but excluded that it could take months. It took some time till the work plan was coordinated with the other entities involved in the testing, which include Enemalta, the Water Services Corporation and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

Now, however, it's a case of "weeks, a few weeks", he said.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the damage to the Birżebbuġa valley, where 31 tons of aviation fuel were spilled, "is not as bad as one would expect", primarily because most of the spill was pumped back into the reservoir as soon as the Enemalta staff realised what happened, The Times was told last week by government sources.

Nonetheless, Mr Riolo confirmed that water contamination from fuel of the sort is measured in mere milligrams.

The spill, which occurred on August 14, was only reported to Enemalta's senior management and the government a week later.

The corporation suspended the two employees directly responsible for manning the plant and put their manager on forced leave as soon the incident was reported.

The manager, who had nothing to do with the spill, actually followed the corporation's procedure in terms of recovering the fuel but failed to report the matter higher up the ladder immediately and decided to investigate first.

It came to the top management's attention when he filed a detailed report on the whole matter to the shock of senior staff, who then reported it to Infrastructure and Transport Minister Austin Gatt.

An independent investigation is underway.

A similar huge diesel spill had occurred in the 1970s. The MRA is coordinating the tests in a borehole and a water pumping station in the valley, which has not been in use for decades following the diesel spill that contaminated the water surrounding it.

There is also a third test being carried out on the soil. When the test results are in, the MRA will be able to establish the level of contamination and potential mitigating measures.