A Marsa waste oil recycling company that had been caught dumping contaminated water in the sewage system was yesterday granted an environmental permit by the planning authority.
Waste Oils Co. Ltd, owned by Falzon Group, was given a six-month environmental permit (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control - IPPC) to store, collect and separate waste oils.
Recommended for approval by the environmental directorate, the permit was granted following a unanimous vote by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority board. It means Malta has now come in line with the IPPC EU Directive, which covers installations having the highest environmental risk. Malta has 13 such installations, including the power stations and landfills.
Just last month, The Times reported that Waste Oils had been caught dumping oil-contaminated water in the sewers by Mepa's environmental inspectors who were investigating the possible source of foul odours in the area around Hexagon House in Marsa.
In fact, the permit imposes very strict conditions on Waste Oil which, among other things, has to appoint an independent warranted engineer to carry out weekly inspections of the storage tanks.
The company must, also on a weekly basis, monitor any emissions of hydrogen sulphide gas, which Mepa had identified as the culprit behind the foul odours in Marsa. It is not allowed any form of gas or land emissions or contamination of rain, ground and surface water.
All monitoring data provided by the company will be accessible and available to the public from the planning authority's website.
The environment permit was granted because "the final proposals by Waste Oil satisfy the environmental standards required under IPPC. As a result, Mepa opted to permit Waste Oils to regularise and facilitate the proper waste oil collection and handling in Malta," a Mepa spokesman said.
The spokesman explained that the permit could be extended but this depended on the company's progress. "This evaluation will be critical in determining the application for permit renewal and the setting of the associated permit conditions."
Last March, Mepa's offices in Hexagon House had to be evacuated after foul smells enveloped the building and one female staff member was kept overnight in hospital.
The company has always denied allegations of discharging oil-contaminated water. A company spokesman had said the only incident that occurred was when, during an inspection by the Water Services Corporation, it was discovered that the company had an irregular connection to the main sewage system and this was immediately closed.
Besides those falling under the EU directive, Mepa is working on making other facilities require an environmental permit, such as waste management facilities, quarries, manufacturing firms and the pharmaceutical sector.