Black dust ‘not a health concern’

The coarse black dust afflicting Fgura and surrounding villages does not present a heightened health concern, according to Alfred Vella, the scientist who drew up a report implicating the Marsa power station as the most likely source.

Contacted by The Times, Prof. Vella, a professor in the Chemistry Department at the University, said the particles, which were over 50 microns in diameter, could not be inhaled because of their size.

The dust was more of a nuisance than anything else and could only present a health risk if ingested. It was traffic emissions that presented the real health hazard, he added.

Still, the Marsa local council yesterday said it was asking Mepa to compensate residents for the impact the black dust had on their health and for the authority and Enemalta to take responsibility for the “huge damage” caused to residents. The council said it reserved the right to initiate legal action against the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and Enemalta.

Simultaneously, Enemalta rejected Prof. Vella’s conclusion about the source of the dust, saying his report did not carry “an analysis of the composition of the samples and comparison with the power station-produced flyash, and bases its conclusions on the ‘evidence’ which can only be drawn from the location and history of the Marsa Power Station”.

The corporation said at no point did the report confirm that the power station was the main source of the black dust samples, saying that of the 11 particles analysed, only two contained vanadium and nickel, “characteristic markers found in dust emissions from the combustion of the fuel used at Marsa”.

Enemalta did however say that “every effort” was being made to shut down the Marsa power station as soon as possible, and that it had been purchasing lower sulphur fuel oil to reduce emissions.

Prof. Vella however pointed out that the report said it was “probable” the Marsa power station was to blame: “In saying something is probable, we’re also saying that it’s improbable that it’s not”.

The report mentions a number of factors – including the wind direction, the chemical composition of some particles and the prevalence of the dust particles in the area close to Marsa – which point to the old power station as being the culprit.

It appears certain that the power station has been a “constant source of emissions of coarse black particles for a long time,” the report says.

The conclusions echo those of a 2000 report commissioned by then environment minister Francis Zammit Dimech.

Authored by Brian Stacey, that report said dust collected in Fgura was chemically and visually different to that found elsewhere. Examined under a microscope, the particles resembled flyash, commonly emitted from power stations.

In a press conference yesterday, Labour’s spokesman for the environment and sustainable development Leo Brincat called on the Prime Minister, as minister for the environment, to take political responsibility for the problem and tackle it once and for all.

Mr Brincat questioned why “nothing was done” on the Stacey report and how the government had ignored comments by Mepa’s then environment director Martin Seychell who had indicated Marsa as a possible source of the dust.

He also questioned why the select committee on black dust precipitation, of which he formed part, was in June not informed by Mepa of the report’s existence, which was dated March 2011.