Two quarries in Siġġiewi and Iklin that are illegally operating as a landfill were sealed off on Friday as part of a planning authority crackdown on unlicensed dumping sites that are posing serious environmental risks.

In both cases, skips full of unseparated and potentially hazardous waste such as electronic material was being systematically dumped with no safety measures in place to safeguard any possible contamination.

Subsequently, the material was being set on fire and covered with debris in a scene reminiscent of the old Magħtab landfill which was closed down 10 years ago.

A spokesman for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority told The Sunday Times of Malta the dumping of waste in quarries poses additional risks, due to the close proximity of the water table.

He said Mepa enforcement officials accompanied by the police moved in to close access to both sites, after the owners failed to comply with regulations in spite of repeated warnings as well as an enforcement notice.

In both quarries only empty trucks are being allowed to enter the site. The spokesman said the next step would be to force the owners to pay for the rehabilitation of the sites.

In the case of Siġġiewi, the owners of the quarry situated in the area known as Wied Xkora had been served with an enforcement notice way back in 2005, for operating an unlicensed brick plant. Subsequently, in 2012, parts of this quarry started operating as an illegal landfill while the brick plant is still operating illegally.

The second site sealed off is located in the area known as Tat-Tabib in Iklin, very close to the television antenna used by the Nationalist Party media.

In this case, an enforcement notice was issued in 2009 over the use of heavy plant machinery and the illegal dumping of scrap material. Though the environmental watchdog took the owner to court, enforcement action was taken as there was a continuous breach taking place on the same site.

A Mepa official explained that neither site was covered by an environmental permit, which is deemed necessary due to the potential environmental hazards of treating and separating mixed waste. He said in the coming week enforcement against illegal dumping would be stepped up with more enforcement notices.