Two inspectors have taken soil samples from Burmarrad fields after Times of Malta reported the dumping of sewage on crops but the authorities continue to point fingers at each other.
This newspaper reported a farmer’s three-year struggle to stop the illegal dumping of sewage on crops, which he blamed for the high levels of cancer-causing nitrates in his groundwater supply.
Paul Abela said farmers in adjacent fields were paying bowsers about €13 to dump slurry (sewage) over their crops, a practice that is illegal.
He has been reporting the problem since 2011, when he tested his source of groundwater and found the presence of cancer-causing nitrates to be above permissible levels.
For more than a week, Times of Malta has, on a daily basis, been chasing questions sent to the Agriculture Department, the Malta Resources Authority and the Environmental Health Department. They were asked a series of questions with the aim of eliciting a guarantee that agricultural produce available on the market is safe for consumption.
No such guarantee was forthcoming and the authorities resorted to pointing fingers at each other.
The Environmental Health Department eventually confirmed it received a complaint about bad farming practices in Burmarrad last year.
“Following investigations carried out, it resulted that slurry and manure were dumped on the said field. The owner was warned to immediately plough the field to remove the inconvenience being caused as regards to foul smells,” the department said, stressing that the irrigation of crops with water having high concentrations of nitrate did not fall under its remit.
It did say food safety tests were held “at least once a year” through checks on spinach and lettuce, carried out in an “ad hoc sampling programme”. This year, a farmer’s market, wholesale market and some retailers are being targeted.
The Environmental Health Directorate said the first step to ensuring food safety was the prevention of bad practices, which fell under the responsibility of the Agriculture Department.
“It has to be pointed out that testing of food and water should be the last resort and other measures, such as not allowing manure in open fields, especially in the rainy season, should be addressed first.”
The Agriculture Department noted that the issue did not fall under its remit.
When it was pointed out that it was the authority responsible for the implementation of the Code of Good Agricultural Practice and the Nitrates Action Programme, the department said it followed up on “each and every complaint” on nitrates abuse. There were only five inspectors responsible for various agriculture-related checks across the country.
Only five inspectors to check country
“Persons found in breach are given a timeframe within which to draw up crop and fertiliser plans to regularise the application of fertilisers to land, with penalties only being triggered by lack of compliance or repeated breaches,” it said.
No mention was made of what happens to the produce and whether it is allowed to enter the market until the farmer falls in line.
Sewage gathered from cesspit cleaning services at private residences, animal farms and mobile toilets spurs plant growth and provides good yields even if safety is questionable as contaminants travel through the food chain. When spread on fields it seeps into the ground, contaminating the water supply.
The Nitrates Action Programme was launched in 2011 with the aim of addressing the protection of water against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources.
It acknowledges that 13 out of 15 groundwater bodies have high nitrate levels that are in excess of the EU quality standard, at times by several orders of magnitude.
Most farmers use boreholes to extract groundwater for their fields.