Nearly 500 canisters used to store a banned pesticide were removed from a mushroom farm in the limits of Rabat that was shut down for failing to abide by environmental conditions, the planning authority said.

The owner of Chadwick Farm, Saviour Gauci, said he closed the farm voluntarily, adding that the methyl bromide containers referred to by Mepa were empty.

Mepa said yesterday its enforcement directorate clamped down on the farm, located in the area known as Tas-Salib.

Chadwick Farm, in operation since 1976, had all necessary planning permits but failed to adhere to a number of operational conditions imposed to cover its enlargement, the development watchdog said.

The conditions aimed to minimise the odour nuisance and other impacts on residents living in the vicinity and on the surrounding environment, it explained.

When Times of Malta spoke to neighbours in April last year they had complained about the “sickening smell” emanating from the farm and Mepa declared it had initiated enforcement action.

Since then, Mepa said yesterday, it had several meetings with the operators but “they failed to regularise their position”. It therefore ordered the farm to close down in early September and to dispose of “the tanks and their hazardous contents” according to regulations.

However, on finding that the canisters were still there, the regulator called in the Civil Protection Department to do the job.

Mr Gauci insisted that he had cooperated with Mepa and had made some changes it demanded. But the 69-year-old said he had then decided it was time to retire and stopped the compliance process.

The containers were empty and he never used the pesticide since it was made illegal in 2005, he said, adding that he had sold the remaining filled tanks to a Spanish company some years ago. He never got rid of the empty canisters because he was too “lazy” to do so and also because it would cost about €5,000, so the CPD took them, he said.

On hearing about the 500 canisters of methyl bromide, people on social media expressed concern about the fact that, since 2005 the containers went unnoticed by the authorities, which meant they could have been eating toxic mushrooms.

Microbiologist Joe Tanti said methyl bromide was mainly banned for environmental reasons and health issues mostly affected the users of the pesticide who experienced skin problems.

In terms of food consumption, there was no cause for alarm as much worse chemicals were used in pesticides. Having said that, he noted, proving long-term complications was difficult.

He said that, as an EU country, Malta was very well safeguarded against the use of dangerous chemicals. One thing that could be done to improve the situation was to have a responsible person nominated in all food companies.

Alfred Baldacchino, an expert in environment management and planning, said this case showed lack of coordination and fragmentation among several government entities with none taking responsibility.

Mepa was responsible for controlling chemicals that affected the ozone lawyer, the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority controlled pesticides and the health authorities regulated the impact on health, he said.

“No one is accountable and, as a result, society and biodiversity suffer,” he said.

Mr Baldacchino, a former assistant director at Mepa’s environment directorate, said methyl bromide was an ozone depleting chemical. It was phased out in 2000 and banned under the Montreal Protocol (that safeguards the ozone) from 2005.

It had an effect on human health and a big impact on biodiversity and the water table due to its high toxicity, he added.

Hydrologist Marco Cremona said a study carried out last year produced a snapshot of the “disastrous state” of the quality of surface water in the Rabat area. In some valleys, the level of nitrates, an agricultural pollutant, was found to be four or five times higher than that set by EU directives, he said.