The Ombudsman has launched an investigation into concerns over food safety after Times of Malta reported the dumping of slurry on agricultural fields.

The probe is being carried out on the initiative of the Ombudsman, Joseph Said Pullicino, and is being conducted by two commissioners within his office: the Commissioner for Environment and Planning David Pace and for Health Charles Messina.

The investigation is called The Practice of Dumping Sewage Slurry on Cultivated Land – Negative Imp-acts on Health and Environment.

The Ombudsman’s Office said the investigation would be widespread and not limited to agricultural fields in Burmarrad where such practices sparked the newspaper reports.

Food safety tests are carried out at least once a year

Its time frame would “depend on the level of co-operation from authorities involved”.

This week the commissioners leading the investigation held a one-hour meeting with farmer Paul Abela, who first aired his grievances with Times of Malta.

Mr Abela welcomed the investigation, beaming as he emerged from the Ombudsman’s office, saying he was glad his three-year struggle to stop farmers dumping sewage on crops had finally caught the attention of authorities.

Mr Abela 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.

He blamed bad farming practices in surrounding fields for a deterioration in the quality of the water he uses for irrigation.

Test results were seen by Times of Malta.

Questions were sent to the Agriculture Department, the Malta Resources Authority and the Environmental Health Department, involved in different aspects of regulation and monitoring of agricultural activities, resources and food safety respectively.

The aim was to seek a guarantee that enforcement measures were in place to ensure agricultural produce entering the market was safe for consumption.

But enforcement is fragmented, rendering it easy for farmers, and the bowser operators collecting and dumping the sewage, to exploit loopholes.

Investigation would not be limited to agricultural fields in Burmarrad

Mr Abela explained farmers were paying bowsers around €13 to dump slurry over their crops, a practice that is illegal.

Following the reports in Times of Malta, two inspectors from the agricultural department took soil samples from Burmarrad fields last week.

This newspaper was informed of the inspectors’ arrival by witnesses, and asked the agriculture department to see the test results of samples taken. But samples would take “up to a week to be analysed”, the department said.

“People found in breach are given a time frame 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 be sold before the farmer falls in line.

The Environmental Health Department says food safety tests are carried out “at least once a year”, through checks on spinach and lettuce, 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 that the first step to ensuring the safety of food was the prevention of bad practices, which fell under the responsibility of the Agriculture Department.

Sewage is gathered from cesspit cleaning services at private residences, animal farms and mobile toilets.

It 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. Most farmers use boreholes to extract groundwater for irrigating their fields.

Thirteen of 15 groundwater bodies have high nitrate levels which are in excess of the EU quality standard, at times by several orders of magnitude.