Saturday, 31st October 2009

Incinerator 'not to blame' for black dust

Wasteserv has contradicted Enemalta Corporation and ruled out the abattoir incinerator as the source of the controversial dust found in the south of the island.

The national waste management operator said: "The amount of dust actually emitted (from the incinerator) is in fact close to negligible and well within the levels allowed by the EU... There is absolutely no correlation between the emission recorded and the incidence (of black dust)".

Wasteserv was reacting to Enemalta's list of possible sources behind the black dust, which included traffic, ships, bakers and industrial boilers, while practically ruling out the Marsa power station.

The black dust phenomenon has plagued residents in Fgura and neighbouring areas for years yet nobody has yet been found responsible.

An expert report in 2000 concluded that emissions from the Marsa power station were "likely to blame". The Malta Environment and Planning Authority, however, has said that report was inconclusive because the results were not compared to the fly ash emitted by the power station.

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Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Tuesday, February 9, 2010. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

patrick vella (on 31/10/09)

Enemalta, MEPA and whoever should stop treating us like idiots. Incidentally, it is somewhat irritating that Fgura is always singled out as the sole or major victim of this 'strange' phenomenon. Fgura borders Paola, Tarxien, Zabbar and Cottonera. The soot doesn't stop at our borders. It's a problem that hits ALL this part of Malta when the wind is blowing NW. I'm fairly sure other areas get their fair share when it's blowing in other directions. It's high time we stopped giving the impression that this problem is circumscribed.

victor pulis (on 31/10/09)

Could it be Martians spraying the black dust? I recall reading something similar in H.G. Well's The War of the Worlds! That seems to be the only remaining pausible explanation.