The Planning Authority this afternoon unanimously approved a permit to decommission, dismantle and demolish the Marsa power station despite pending studies on the hazardous waste contained on site.

While the dismantling of the station was approved today, the actual process cannot start before the necessary environmental permit - referred to as an integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) permit - is surrendered.

The IPPC permit defines the obligations with which industrial and activities with a high pollution potential must comply. It establishes a procedure for authorising these activities and sets minimum requirements to be included in all permits, particularly in terms of pollutants released.

Once an application is made to surrender the IPPC permit that guides the plant’s operations, details would emerge of the kind of waste on site and the appropriate methods for disposing of the hazardous waste.

Studies still have to determine the types of hazardous waste contained on site. Methods of handling and disposing of the waste can only be established once the studies have been concluded.

Nationalist Party MP and Mepa board member Ryan Callus in fact pointed out the IPPC and dismantling applications should have been applied for simultaneously.  At the moment, there were too many unknown factors at a stage when the dismantling of the plant has been approved. This was not a holistic planning approach, he said.

Godwin Agius, Enemalta’s architect, said the process would start with the removal of boilers three and four all the way to boiler eight, finishing off with the gas turbine, which will be dismantled by January 2018.

During the process, tests will be carried to see how the waste should be disposed.

The decommissioning will include the removal of bulk material, such as heavy fuel oil and cleaning. This will be followed by the dismantling of the equipment that could be reused.

Marsa A station was built in 1930s and completed in the 1950s, while the B Station was completed in 1966.

 

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