New power station chimneys built ahead of dispersion studies - PL
Labour's environment spokesman, Leo Brincat, and the Mayor of Marsasxlokk, Edric Micallef, questioned today how 65-metre chimneys had been built as part of the Delimara power station extension when they were not covered by the Mepa permit issued last year.
At the time, Mepa had said that the issue of the chimneys was 'a reserved matter' since studies were still pending on the dispersal of emissions.
Mr Brincat said Enemalta had carried out studies on NOX and SOX, which were light gasses which dispersed easily, but the issue was heavier emissions having particles which were quickly deposited in the immediate surroundings.
At 65 metres, the chimney was almost in line with the top of the Delimara plateau, compared to the old chimney which is 110 metres high, Mr Brincat said.
He said that the study on the heavier particles was only completed this month and handed to Marsaxlokk council last week.
The Mayor said the report would be studied by experts, but it was absurd that the chimney had been built when the studies still had to be analysed.
Mr Brincat said Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco, who is responsible for Mepa, was politically responsible for what had happened. In normal circumstances, Mepa issued enforcement orders in cases such as this, he said.
He noted that the height of 65 metres was what Enemalta had wanted in the first place when the permit application had been submitted.
In his press conference, held at Marsaxlokk seafront, Mr Brincat asked what had become of a call for tenders to install precipitators to reduce emissions from the old part of Delimara power station. A number of bids had been submitted, but then the offer was mysteriously cancelled by the government, Mr Brincat said. He asked why this decision was taken.
Mr Micallef also reiterated the council's opposition for the transportation of waste from the power station through the streets of Marsaxlokk.
Government reaction
In a reaction, the Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for Enemalta, and the Secretariat for Tourism and the Environment, said the power station is being built to high EU environmental standards and its completion is vital for Malta to continue to attract investment and safeguard jobs.
The extension of the power station is covered by a Mepa permit issued in May 2009 . At the time it was decided that the height of the chimneys would be considered as part of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control permit. The IPPC criteria were determined by EU rules. Therefore, what needed to be determined was the height of the chimneys and not whether there should be chimneys.
The public consultation process as part of the IPPC was launched on August 24, but the Opposition was using this process for its partisan ends.
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Mr Patrick Zahra
Aug 31st 2011, 17:07
One cannot but thank Enemalta and the current administration for always keeping our health and the well being of our environment at the top of their agenda!!!!! I will surely bear it mind come next election!!!
ALFRED BRIFFA
Aug 31st 2011, 18:50
Mur gibek tghafas is-swicc u ma ssibx dawl, sur Zahra! Dak il-hin, la trid id-dawl, zgur li tpartathom ma kollox, basta jkollok id-dawl! Mela sewwa, ftakar META TKUN QED TIVVOTA, li permezz tal-power station meta taghfas is-swicc, jixghel ID-DAWL!
adrian attard
Sep 12th 2011, 12:19
Yes, because under the previous administration and the disaster built in Marsa, our health was at the top of their agenda
John Zammit-Spiteri
Aug 31st 2011, 16:30
@ david bezzina
i dont think you have any idea who built mid med bank and BOV, and you had the audacity to say from the ground? who do you think you are trying to teach here?
Mid Med Bank was nationalised and taken over by the bullying methods of mintoff, and for your information if you have any idea what you are talking about BOV was Maltas National Bank plus Sciclunas Bank Tagliaferros bank etc. These Were Maltese owned who were taken over by mintoffian bullying tactics over night at gun point!! Who needs to get his facts right? and as for the others, we need not say more
labout took them over, funded them over Maltese investments employed only lejber, and when Nationalists Government was elected they paralised the country with innumerous strikes.
You have a nerve to tell us who started these from the ground!!!! you must be 10 years old!
Mr David Bezzina
Aug 31st 2011, 21:59
With all due respect,Mintoff built Malta from the ground,He eliminated poverty from the ravages by the Nationaluists in the 60's.
Mid-Med Bank and Bank of Valletta remained financially stable to this day.And that is all merit to Mintoff's idea who made government the main shareholder of both entities.
I might be 10 years old but what Mintoff achieved in the 70's will never be equalled by any government.He was truly Malta's saviour.
Mr charles vella
Sep 1st 2011, 10:24
@david bezzina
Please note that poor people in Malta's streets emerged after Mintoff kicked out the british from Malta! The PN before 1971 exectly in 1964 got Malta's independence however kept the British because Maltese people where employed with them! X ghamel Mintoff? He created cheap labor under military conditions 'corpi tal pijunieri' ...nationalized the national bank at gun point agaist the share holders will and named it BOV, and currently sti pending court desition... The dockyard was paralized with a 9 month strike with full pay, paralizing the country only to realize that when mintoff was elected he stopped these immidgiatly and ever since the dock yard sunk faster then the Titanic!
And you say Mintoff built from the ground!? From your comments you are too young to know what really happened and before you talk check your history books to know the real shame behind the lejber party!!
John Zammit-Spiteri
Sep 1st 2011, 10:30
@ david bezzina
without any respect you have no idea what you are talking about. Montoff did absolutely nothing to put Malta where it is today. I dont know how old you are but from the way you are writing you wear red glasses or you must be totally blind! If you wish to call mintoff your saviour do so , but Malta showed how much it appreciated his horrible bullying ways that it outvoted labour for nearly 25 years , and thanks to Malta voters it will happen again if people like you keep writing and showing us that people like you still squirm to bring those horrible days back!
Mintoff did not remove poverty, but increased it! Mintoff found housing estates built in 1970 by the nationalist Government who prudently left them empty so that they would be housed after the election. Lejber comes up and fills them with hbieb tal hbieb! Dak hu is salvatur ta Malta! All mintoff did was to erase what was good. He found institutions stable and he destabilised them? You forget bical bank? Who through threats managed to destabilise banks and ruin companies and families? You have no idea how he operated. Impoverish and then bestow a few pennies! That was mintoff. How can we forget those days?
He removed feast days, organised thugs to disrupt any political meetings finest example ( zejtun 1986)
How can we forget the innumerous burning down of political clubs, How Can we forget the burning down of this fabulous newspaper in 1979. You have to be ( sfaccat pervdu ) to say that mintoff is a salvatur!
Well ask Alfred Sant how much salvatur he is , he was called a traitor because he showed that what counts is what he wanted and not what was good for all.
You should be ashamed to write this garbage in this newspaper that lejber thugs burnt down in 1979!
John Zammit-Spiteri
Aug 31st 2011, 16:29
@ david bezzina
i dont think you have any idea who built mid med bank and BOV, and you had the audacity to say from the ground? who do you think you are trying to teach here?
Mid Med Bank was nationalised and taken over by the bullying methods of mintoff, and for your information if you have any idea what you are talking about BOV was Maltas National Bank plus Sciclunas Bank Tagliaferros bank etc. These Were Maltese owned who were taken over by mintoffian bullying tactics over night at gun point!! Who needs to get his facts right? and as for the others, we need not say more
labour took them over, funded them over Maltese investments employed only lejber, and when Nationalists Government was elected they paralised the country with innumerous strikes.
You have a nerve to tell us who started these from the ground!!!! you must be 10 years old!
Mr Joseph Mifsud
Aug 31st 2011, 16:20
It seems that many of these commemtators doesn't know that we entered the EU. does EU standards apply to Malta ? The power station mess is just PN statigic policy to prepare as much problems to a PL government as possible, than they will hope to win the election after the next one. In military jargon is is called scorched earth policy, where a retreating army destruct every bridge, road, tunnel etc. Does the PN respect the Maltese people, or sees us as those neighbours that just had the courage to fight for demcracy.
Joseph Borg
Aug 31st 2011, 15:35
Jo Camm u Briffa.....prosit hux mela allura nhallu kollox ghaddej, inmardu lill kulhadd u hadd ma jitkellem...dik id-demokrazija li tiftahru tghid bijha u tghajru bijha lill PL! prosit keep it up....kuntenti inthom kuntent kulhadd...bhas soltu li jaghmlu il pN sagrosant u li jaghmlu il PL u li jghidu il PL dejjem hazin.
Imnalla hawn il perfetti PN fil gvern! anqas inthom egojisti u blue eyed!
Balla mdejqin nazzjonalisti li kif jifthu halqhom tal PL tipprovaw tbezzaw lin nies...........minghalikhom!
Kieku xi darba ta....darba wahda il PL qal xi haga u inthom ghedtu iwa din tajba! ghax jekk ikun hawn 100 statement tal PL 100 darba tmaqdru u jekk ikun hawn mitt statement tal PN 100 darba dejjem tajjeb! u halluna u komplu morru il kazin u araw in net news halli tkomplu tibilaw kollox!
Michael Seychell
Aug 31st 2011, 15:06
Mr Leo Brincat - the M/LP are sure of winning the next general elections, in which case you will most probably be the minister responsible for the power station.
I for one look forward for this to happen, since I am sure that you will immediatly stop the work on the power station and ensure that this will be changed to Gas without delay thus the emmissions problem will be 100% solved!.
Michael Seychell
Tal-Pieta
K. Vella
Aug 31st 2011, 14:52
What a nice sky-line, isn't it?
Thank you for getting those chimneys so close to the road leading to Delimara.
PN you better take good care of the South, the South is not just the Cottonera area.
Brian Gatt
Aug 31st 2011, 14:50
Very good comment so you are willing to jeoprodise your health and that of your family to stand up for the party you believe in, and most probably even if you dont say it out loud you must agree that this project has a somewhat fishy smell all around it.... verrrrryyy goood!!!!
Mr Jo Camm
Aug 31st 2011, 14:03
Jgħidu x'jgħidu u jfixklu kemm ifixklu tal-oppozizzjoni, li jinteressana h li jkollna d-dawl u ll-enerġija s-sena kollha, mhux bis-sulluzzu.
Meta, forsi, jkunu huma fil-gvern jirrangaw kollox kif jghogob lilhom, Imma jrid jghogob lilna wkoll inkella jergħu jaghmlu 25 sena ohra fl-oppozizzjoni.
ALFRED BRIFFA
Aug 31st 2011, 13:53
Halluna ha nahdmu tal-PL! Din l-ossessjoni biex b'xi mod jew iehor tippruvaw twaqqfu l-izvilupp tal-power station il-gdida tfakkarni meta ghamiltu l-istess haga fil-bini tal-power station l-ohra f'Marsaxlokk. Tiftakru kemm hraqtu tyres u taqilghu t-triq bil-gafef. Imma dak inhar kien kollu ghal xejn...ghax dak inhar u llum m'ghandkomx l-appogg tal-pulizija.
Mela cicci kwieti u tkomplux titwerru mill-izvilupp tal-power stations
Michael Gatt
Aug 31st 2011, 15:03
Kuntent int kuntent kulhadd muxhekk nghamlu tejd
Mr Michael Buhagiar
Aug 31st 2011, 13:19
labour as usual always negative, always wishing that Malta will suffer sever power cuts, because Labour never did anything for our country as regards our infrastructure. Always putting spokes in the wheels. The people will judge these lackeys for what they truly are. Always against development.
Mr Lawrence Fenech
Aug 31st 2011, 13:51
Michael.
In the meantime keep on paying the exhorbitant bills thanks to Mr. Gonzi who has no difficulties with bills after his 500 Euro per week from 2008 raise, and this was behind your back too. Happy are the friends in high places.
Mr David Bezzina
Aug 31st 2011, 14:10
WHO BUILT ENEMALTA,AIRMALTA,MALTA FREEPORT,SEAMALTA,MID-MED BANK,B.O.V, FROM THE GROUND ?
GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT BEFORE WRITING SUCH JIBBERISH.
John Zammit-Spiteri
Aug 31st 2011, 16:34
@david bezzina
I really dont know where you get your ideas from ! All those companies existed before mintoff existed and all he did was change the names ! you seem to try to convice us with stories of the past! you forgot to mention xandir Malta ( redifusion ) you forgot to mention teleMalta ( do we need to mention names? )
do you remember trying to phone Mr B and you end by connnecting to Mr A B C D E F in a rainy day?
And Enemalta? how pathetic! your vision of lejber progress seems to be very utopic believing in one hundred and one fairy tales!
Mr Ernest Vella
Aug 31st 2011, 12:03
Ha joqghodu jikkritikaw u sa frattant huma qatt m'ghamlu xejn biex jaghlqu l-Maghtab, il-Power Station tal-Marsa u li ma jinqatax id-dawl u l-ilma 3 darbiet f'gimgha. Imma mill-oppozizzjoni facli jparlaw. Kieku il-Power Station ma ddahanx dejjem ahjar, imma sar investiment biex isir filtragg biex isir l-inqas hsara possibli. X'qed jissugerixxi Joseph Muscat...mhux xi haga fl-arja nispera...ghax perswaz li jekk jitla hu Prim Ministru ma jibdel xejn mill-progett.