European Union law is not always, as many would have us believe, unnecessary bureaucracy, or legislation for legislation’s sake. The drafting of European directives and regulations is rooted in, and strongly motivated by, the need to improve the quality of life of European citizens across the board, in those areas where the EU has competence.
Nothing better reflects this than Council Directive 96/82/EC, on the control of major-accident hazards, more commonly known as Seveso II.
The reason why this directive has this appellation, so uncharacteristic of EU legislation, is interesting. Seveso is a town in Northern Italy which, in 1976, was subjected to a disaster after a small chemical plant in its vicinity exploded, leaving inhabitants of this town suffering serious consequences.
Therefore, when a directive catering for the prevention, preparedness and response to chemical accidents was drafted, it was immediately dubbed as Seveso, with reference to the sort of human suffering it was intending to protect against. The directive covers establishments where dangerous substances, including petrochemicals, are used or stored in large quantities.
The government of Malta has proposed that a floating gas-carrying vessel with a reported capacity of over 140,000 cubic metres of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be berthed in Marsaxlokk Bay. This is intended as a storage supply for the liquefied gas-fired power plant being installed in the bay.
To make it easier to understand the quantities involved, the 140,000 cubic metres of gas involved translate into over three million gas cylinders on a floating storage vessel in the middle of a busy bay, surrounded by the homes, work-places and schools of thousands of people.
It is only natural that the residents in the immediate vicinities of Marsaxlokk, Birżebbuġa and Żejtun, as well as of the outlying areas, are concerned about their safety and are aware of the risks being unreasonably thrust upon their communities.
The Maltese government has not made any provisions to guarantee a proper, safe distance from residential areas or any provisions for a security zone around the floating gas mega-cylinder. In contrast to this attitude, the people responsible for similar projects in other EU member states, such as those off the Italian ports of Livorno and Ancona, have given priority to safety issues and the legitimate concerns of residents were addressed by stationing the depot a safe distance away from them, with proper security zones around the vessel.
In Marasxlokk, no Maritime Risk Assessment has been carried out and only a preliminary Quantitative Risk Assessment has taken place.
It is, literally, a case of playing around with people’s lives. The usual rhetorical ranting based on personal attacks and the playing of the worn out record of “going against the government” or “scaremongering” simply does not wash. People are worried and they have good reason to be.
We cannot risk waiting for someone to shrug and admit things could have been done better and that next time they’ll listen
We have all seen and watched countless circumstances where those sounding the warning are shrugged off in the interests of short-term gains and specific interests. Should something go wrong, who would be able to bear the responsibility of the very real cost our society would incur?
I have not heard one reasonable argument as to why moving the storage vessel out of the bay to a safe distance from the shore should be a big deal. Ignoring the potential risk is.
This has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with having gas-fired generation, cleaner air or cheaper electricity rates. This is about people’s lives, people’s jobs and their health.
I, for one, am not prepared to renege on my duty to protect the real interests of the Maltese and Gozitans and am not ready to just sit by and watch while unnecessary risks are taken to save a percentage of the total cost of the project, which in any case would not be borne by the consumer, at the expense of people’s peace of mind.
On the basis of these concerns, I have spearheaded a petition, supported by my colleagues standing for the European Parliament elections on the Nationalist Party ticket, as well as by officials and MPs from the party. This petition calls upon the European Commission, in the light of the Seveso II Directive, to investigate the risk posed to the public by having this floating gas vessel placed in the centre of Marsaxlokk Bay.
As the Maltese MEP on the European Parliament’s Petition Committee, I could not do otherwise.
As concerned citizens, I urge you to do the same by signing the petition here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Petition-on-Marsaxlokk-Gas-Storage-Unit .
The irresponsible obstinacy being shown by the government in refusing to slightly amend the proposed project to move the potential danger out of the harbour to safer waters does nothing to alleviate people’s worries.
We cannot risk waiting for someone to shrug and admit things could have been done better and that next time they’ll listen.
In such a scenario, future hindsight would not be an option.
Roberta Metsola is a Nationalist MEP.