What is this dust?

M. Cutajar

Jul 31st 2009, 08:26

I was under the impression that most of the readers viewed with attention the footage of the astronauts aboard the linked Endeavour space shuttle high above our gorgeous island. The astronauts are heavy smokers...it's all about gravity...the ashes from their fags have to land somewhere...ain't we lucky the ashes are falling exactly on our roofs. Let's all collect this precious dust and preserve it for the (hopefully) many generations to come.

v.pulis

Jul 31st 2009, 08:20

Soot is fine and powdery, This dust is gritty and crunchy. But be that as it may, it is an inconvenience and a health hazard. The source must be found and eliminated. If the authorities are incapable of tracing the source it doesn't say much for the 'experts' conducting the tests. Is it such a big deal to analyse the dust and comeup with an answer? The chemicals in the dust should give the 'experts' a clear indication of its composition and therefore its provenance. We're not just talking about comforthere. Our health is at risk.
We have heard recently that the government is embarking on the building of a new oncology hospital. perhaps he's making it ready for us and our children.

K LeBlanc

Jul 31st 2009, 04:25

As a worker in the electrical generation industry and VERY familiar with this issue several of the commentors are correct. Enemalta is pulling the dust over your eyes.

Kieron O'connor

Jul 30th 2009, 19:08

Enough with the "Black Dust".
Lets educate the people.
It is "Soot".
Soot is impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of a hydrocarbon.
i.e. poor combustion at your power station, poor combustion that causes it to exceed allowable EU limits for emissions to atmosphere, which cause a hazzard to your health, which is why its being closed down in 2015.
The "Soot" is the tip of the ice berg, it is a symptom of the poor combustion and high emissions which are hazzardous to your health.
They are creaming in your power bills while you suck in the hazardous gases and the government creams in the taxes, all the while hoping it all goes away in 2015.
The entire Island is at risk from the hazzardous emissions from the stacks, they are invisible.

I quote
"The gas-phase soots contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The PAHs in soot are known mutagens and probable human carcinogens. They are classified as a "known human carcinogen" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
The term carcinogen refers to any substance that is an agent directly involved in the promotion of cancer or in the increase of its propagation.

v.pulis

Jul 30th 2009, 18:12

We don't really care if the dust is coming from the poewr station or Mars. We only want a solution to the problem. Just by saying that the pwer station is not the culprit doesn't solve anything. We want the powers that be to trace the source and stop it! Two years seem more than enough time to get to the bottom of this whole farce. An analysis of the dust should give the 'experts' some idea of the provenance of this dust. i remember the last time we were hit by this problem the source was traced to a scrap yard in the limits of Zejtun if I'm not mistaken. As Kieron O'connor said do we have to wait till 2015 to stop inhaling this poison? How many tons of dust will have been pumped in the air by 2015? How much of it will have ended up in our lungs?

E.A. Mallia

Jul 30th 2009, 17:44

Sorry Mr. Galea; coal dust was not coming from the power station but from the coal pound next to the then-Sea Malta offices. The dust was whipped up by the wheels of the loaders piling coal onto trucks for the short journey to the power station. Ash from the burnt coal was mostly trapped by the electrostatic precipitators, loaded onto trucks and dumped at Benghijsa near the Freeport, where it can still be seen. Incidentally, the coal dust and much more the ash carried was radioactive.
As far as distances from Marsa are concerned, it is distance down the prevailing wind that matters. Attard is on the "good" side of Marsa for the Majjistral; Zejtun is on the "bad" side.

E Compagno

Jul 30th 2009, 17:32

WRONG!

The same localities get this dust because the wind is more often than not blowing that way. The sudden 'increase' seen in these localities is probably because the wind has been slightly stronger recently than in past weeks and it's taken the particles further. When Mepa says that this is impossible, I'd like to know how they explain SAND from the Sahara coming in occasionally with the rain, making everything brown and dusty.

Just this morning about 6am, I went onto my roof in Marsa.. the Chimneys, in full view just a few hundred metres away, were billowing out huge plumes of gray smoke.. the wind was moving it along in the direction of Tarxien.

I dust for nothing. I wash the floor for nothing. I don't DARE hang my washing outside. I don't think I'd like to find out how much of this gets into my lungs and my children's lungs on a daily basis. And.. there are two SCHOOLS in close proximity. Shame shame shame!

C Galea

Jul 30th 2009, 13:52

As Jane Camilleri Haber pointed out - coal dust used to cover her house when she lived at Blata l-Bajda.

If the dust is from the Marsa power station, it should hit Blata l-Bajda in much greater concentrations than it does Tarxien and much before it travels all the way down to Zejtun!

C Galea

Jul 30th 2009, 13:49

It's a mystery because complaints are coming from Tarxien, Fgura, Paola, Żejtun and Żabbar.

A point in favour of Enemalta is that if you take a map and measure the circumference putting Marsa at the centre and Zejtun at the furthest end, you'll realise that Attard for example is nearer to Marsa than is Zejtun. Encompassed in the circle would be Valletta, Floriana, Birkirkara, Iklin, Blata l-Bajda, Luqa, Qormi, Gzira, part of San Gwann...

Did any residents above have this dust problem? What about Hamrun residents?

If no, then it makes more sense to think that the origin of the dust is actually in Paola/Tarxien/Three Cities area.

Has anyone checked the local factories? The industrial estate at Kordin?

Kieron O'connor

Jul 30th 2009, 13:44

People of Malta you are being hoodwinked.
Read the last paragraph of the Article, and I quote.

"In view of an EU health directive, the Marsa power station will have to be shut down by 2015. The time limit set is aimed at stemming emissions of hazardous substances that can adversely affect people's health"

Why should you wait until 2015 to be protected from hazardous substances that adversely affect your health.
Will the government compensate you for the years from now until 2015 when they shut down the powerstation for knowingly putting your health at risk from the aknowledged release of HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES from the power station.

If they already know there is hazardous substances being emitted from the power station, then clearly they know exactly where the "black dust" is coming from aswell.
They are laughing in your faces, and your government is failing in its duty to protect you.
I dont blaim Enemalta, your government is responsible for protecting you and enforcing its own and european rules.

William Zammit

Jul 30th 2009, 13:19

Well, that's democracy and equality for you ... some Maltese get residents' parking while others get black dust. The solution is pretty much straightforward really: give tax rebates to residents living in areas suffering from the black dust syndrome. For those of you who think that's too generous, I'm ready to swap any tax rebate for resident parking privileges any day!

Andrew Calleja

Jul 30th 2009, 13:04

And what about the chimney at St Lukes which had been a subject for public debate for so long?

The government made a lot of promises over the years that it would resolve the problem. Then finally last year there was a lot of fanfare about the decommissioning of the incinerator which was not up to standards and had posed a constant health hazard for the surrounding areas. Why is it still spewing out black smoke on a daily basis albeit for short intervals?

I have photos and videos to back this up just in case the authorities try to pooh pooh my claims by temporarily stopping any clandestine operations still going on at St Lukes.

The Times has my email address and can ask me to provide them with the proof if they do not get a satisfactory answer from the responsible sectors.

H Dempster

Jul 30th 2009, 12:52

Could it be that the Etna may be smokeing?

E.A. Mallia

Jul 30th 2009, 12:26

The "black dust" plague gets more mysterious by the hour. MEPA has now come up with two years of inconclusive testing. Begging its pardon, that suggests gross incompetence or worse, and makes a mockery of the statement that "MEPA is again caryying out tests and results were expected in the coming weeks". In year 2000, a final year B.Sc ( Hons) dissertation-- with a work span of about 10 months-- unambiguously found that the dust fall on Fgura, Tarxien, Santa Lucia and Marsa came from the Marsa power station.
And once again can we be shown the results of Enemalta's "regular monitoring of dust emissions" and of the "inconclusive tests" by MEPA? If these cannot stand the light of day, then no one should believe a word of what they say.

Galea. L

Jul 30th 2009, 12:21

It dust from the dark side of the moon

Anthony Roberts

Jul 30th 2009, 12:08

I would like to know what this black dust is as my house is covered in it here in the south.

jane camilleri haber

Jul 30th 2009, 10:51

thanks for the action. we have had this dust for over three weeks now. it reminds me of when coal dust used to cover my floors when I used to live in blkata l bajda back in the 80's. this dust is not normal wind swept dust but it seems to be coming from some kind of industrial waste. it is very heavy and smells in the air too somehow! and not just the yards and rooves are covered in it but all our floors and plants as well as giving a black dye to all our feet and sticking to window panes and loovers. it is coarser than normal dust and feels crispy under our feet. I believe it is being derived from the incomplete burning of coal somehow. I hope it is not more lethal than that!! ( some derivative of a heavy metal!!)please get rid of it.

E. Camilleri

Jul 30th 2009, 10:49

Il-problema tat-trab iswed gewwa l-Fgura u l-irhula tal-madwar hija xi haga intollerabbli u inkwetanti. Jien noqghod il-Fgura u il-bjut u l-btiehi kuljum miksija bi trab iswed. Anke sa siegha wara li tahsel. Meta wiehed iqis is-shana li qed taghmel u l-kontijiet tad-dawl gholjin, allura trid tiftah it-twieqi biex tiffriska d-dar. Gewwa l-Fgura ma tistax ghax id-dar timtela bit-trab iswed. Aktar minn hekk, is-sahha taghna u ta' uliedna. Xi haga trid issir u malajr inkella jekk ikun hemm xi konsegwenza fuq sahhitna jew sahhet uliedna, xi hadd li huwa responsabbli irid ihallas.

J Galea

Jul 30th 2009, 10:36

THANK you Mr Paul Farrugia for your concern towards your residents.....I washed my yard at 11pm last night and had to wash it again at 5 this morning !!!!!!! Thanks goodness I don't use my roof....hopefully the rains will take care of that.