Parliament has started a five-hour debate on a motion for the setting up of a select committee to collect all available information on the presence of 'black dust' in Fgura and other localities.

The committee will have two members from either side of the House as members and be chaired by the Speaker.

The motion was introduced by Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco, who said that it was obvious that everyone wanted clear and healthy air. It was also obvious that there was a problem regarding the presence of black dust and one needed to track its source and see what could be done about it.

The factors which had an impact on air quality in Malta were various. Among them were natural causes such as the wind and a lack of rain, which caused air quality to deteriorate.

Mepa carried out air quality analyses across the country. Even in Gharb, which was distant from significant human activity, industry or traffic, the presence of dust particles in the air was significant. Aerosol was also produced in the sea and was found in the air.

There were also human activities which caused a deterioration of air quality - emissions from transport, the power station and the construction industry.

The government was working for a drastic reduction of emissions, including new power station plants and the closure of the Marsa power station. Subsidies were being given for people to opt for clean sources of energy such as solar heaters and photovoltaic panels. The government would also invest substantial funds for a power cable link with Sicily.

The bus service was also being reformed, with new modern buses aimed as encouraging the people to leave their cars at home.

Dr de Marco said he had been given technical explanations by Mepa over why the source of the Fgura dust had not been identified. The air monitoring stations collected samples and analysed the dust for particular content - PM10 and PM 2.5, which were fine dust particles which were harmful to health.

Fgura was a locality which saw heavy traffic. It was located close to three industrial zones and the harbour, as well as the Marsa power station and incinerator. A number of scrapyards were also close by. Furthermore, nearby bastions hindered the flow of the wind.

The presence of the black dust was constant but the amount fluctuated. There could be various reasons for the black dust, including the Marsa power station, the scrapyards and traffic.

Investigations showed that this problem started in 1996 and the government in 1999 sought advice by AEAT. In the year 2000 a report by the company fond that the dust was different from dust in Sliema and Dingli and was likely to have originated from the power station. The particles were bigger in Fgura and thus were deposited quickly. There were also similarities with flyash from the oil fired power station in Marsa.

Enemalta restarted precipitators and it appeared that from March 2002 to August 2007 Mepa did nto receive new complaints.

In August 2007 new complaints were received. At the time samples given by residents were analysed. That dust was found to be different from emissions from the old abattoir, transport emissions or grit from the dockyard. How it was similar to Marsa power station flyash. However important chemicals usually found in power station flyash were missing, and Mepa therefore declared its analysis as inconclusive.

A sampler was installed and from August 2007 to August 2009 no complaints were received, but new complaints were made in mid 2009. Samples were collected and analysed. Again the important chemicals normally found in power station emissions were missing. Again, the results were inconclusive.

Further tests on more samples in July 2010 made by the University indicated that the dust was similar to what was found in Msida, and it was known that dust was caused by traffic emissions. (interruptions).

Dr de Marco said he was not a scientist and it would be up to the experts to decide. That was why the committee was being set up.

Prof Alfred Vella had been engaged by Mepa to study samples by Mepa and his report was awaited shortly.

The government, Dr de Marco said, was not trying to minimise the problem and it was everyone's duty to seek its source and tackle it.

Labour MP Helena Dalli, one of the speakers after Dr de Marco, said the government had been running on the spot on this issue. She said she could not understand how somebody could blame traffic or the bastions, when they were always there, whereas the problem had not.

She also criticised the government for planning to extend the power station at Delimara using heavy fuel oil, which, she said, was far more harmful than using gas, which the Cabinet had originally decided to use.

Ms Dalli said that according to experts, the dust had a clear fingerprint pointing to the power station as the source of the problem.

Dr de Marco asked which reports Ms Dalli was referring to since the reports given to Mpea showed that chemicals essential in the power station emissions were missing.

Ms Dalli said reports existed which confirmed what she was saying.

POWER STATION NOT EXONERATED - MUGLLIETT

Former Nationalist Minister Jesmond Mugliett this welcomed the setting up of a parliamentary select committee and hoped that it would be the House which, at long last, would identify the source of this problem.

Mr Mugliett said the motion for the setting up of this select committee showed a recognition of this problem by the government as well as recognition by the prime minister that the issue deserved even more importance.

It was recognition that more needed to be done to get to the root of the problem.

Mr Mugliett said he had spoken about this problem in the past because he too felt that government bodies were not taking the matter seriously enough. He had also wanted to relay the people's frustrations.

When he spoke about the issue for the first time, during parliamentary question time, he had complained about Mepa not expressing itself publicly on this or other longstanding problems, including the smells at Spencer Hill.

About a year ago, the Prime Minister tabled reports compiled by Mepa on the Fgura dust. It was almost declared that there was no link with the Marsa power station emissions.

It was clear, however, that this dust was caused by the combustion of fuel oil. So it was either traffic, or the power station. A Mepa director at one time indicated traffic, saying other localities were also complaining of black dust.

Mr Mugliett said the experts had been seeking particular chemicals to link the dust to the power station but these were not found. However, that did not mean that they did not exist, and one had to look into the way how they were carried in the air, dispersed and deposited.

There was a certain pattern linked to the power station. The first complaints about the dust were made in 1999. At the time dust deposit cages were set up and the report found that when the prevailing wind was from the west - from the direction of the power station - the dust increased. The tests on the dust concluded in 2000 were also conclusive in pointing to the power station in Marsa.

It was then decided that boiler precipitators would be brought into service once more. Enemalta also started to use fuel with less sulphur. And the problem eased.

The problem re-appeared in 2007 and fresh investigations were made. This time, Mepa widened its investigation to include the Abbatoir incinerator, the dockyard and traffic. The dockyard was ruled out. It was found that the particles were similar to flyash particles from the power station but some chemicals normally found in power station emissions were missing. However, the experts did say that their presence might not result in emissions in the air.

An analysis of particulate monitoring was then launched. The samples were few and the test concluded that the concentration of metals in this particulate matter was not higher than established in EU standards. This was positive from the health point of view.

But again, those tests did not rule out the Marsa power station.

The problem reappeared in 2009. At the time the Marsa power station preciptators had been switched off. The decision was taken by Enemalta because of problems on the disposal of flyash. Mepa took months because it realised that the preciptators had been switched off. However, the tests in 2009 started as the amount of dust tailed off.

He could not understand, Mr Mugliett said, why Mepa had taken so long to react to the people's complaints and why the sampling system was not permanent.

But here again, the power station could not be exonerated.

Mr Mugliett said that in the select committee he would raise questions on the seriousness of the tests carried out so far. Why had more samples not been taken, why was there no permanent sampling made, could other tests be made to identify the source of the problem?; what relationship was there with boiler start-ups and shut-downs?

Enemalta needed to be more accountable about emissions from Marsa power station. What about soot-blowing on the chimneys? Where did the soot particles go?

Mr Mugliett said that having this select committee was positive and raised the esteem due to Parliament. It was a message to all government departments that anyone could be under the scrutiny of the House.

He augured that it would be Parliament which would ultimately resolve this issue in the interests of the people.

Labour MP George Vella said the government knew that Marsa power station was the source of this problem and it had set up this committee to win time until the power station was closed down in two years' time.

Several reports showed that the particles floating in the air contained evidence of material which could only come from burnt fuel.

Traffic, he said, did did not produce these sort of particles. Had traffic been the cause of this problem, this dust would be everywhere.

Dr Vella said he wanted to point out that the most harmful to health were not such big particles, but the smaller ones produced by traffic. In this context too, the government, instead of reducing traffic in Fgura, was planning to open new roads including one to SmartCity. This was shameful.

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