Nearly a hundred years ago, Shell officially inaugurated the first oil storage facility in Malta. The site chosen was away from the public in a quaint village that at the turn of the century only had a few hundred residents, increasing seasonally when people from Cottonera moved to their summer homes at Pretty Bay or St George’s Bay.
It hardly crossed Shell’s mind that after 60 years, the 38,000-square-metre installation would be surrounded by neighbours living just across the street on three sides, with their balconies overlooking 10 large storage tanks, in which Enemed to date stores unleaded gasoline, Jet A-1, kerosene and diesel.
Needless to say, although it was the choice of residents to build their homes next to the installation, it poses safety risks and creates a nuisance, with the continuous movement of fuel trucks to supply fuel stations across the islands.
The authorities identified this as a problem long ago and tried to resolve it by finding an alternative site to shut down the facility, with little success. Back in 2005, the now defunct Mepa issued a development brief specifying that the installation must be closed down as soon as possible, giving obvious reasons that the residents of Birżebbuġa knew all too well.
Interestingly, in the same brief, Enemalta Corporation had committed to dismantle and relocate the site by not later than 2010. Unfortunately, years have passed and the only two constants were the grievances of residents and the installation remaining operational.
Over the past three years, Enemed, which falls under the Ministry for Energy and Water Management, has worked incessantly on a plan to close down this facility, conducting multiple studies on alternative sites.
The people of Birżebbuġa can finally start seeing and believing that there is no turning back on the decision taken by the shareholder to close the installation
Taking into account previous Enemalta plans for other sites, the need to have a minimum impact on the environment and the need for a location that could provide both safety and security (since these installations are considered a critical infrastructure for the country), Enemed opted to sacrifice part of its underground storage tanks (which it rents out to third party international players) at the Ħas Saptan installation and build only the filling station and head offices above ground near this installation.
The new project will only take up 25 per cent of the proposed development in a 2004 plan presented by the then Enemalta Corporation, which envisaged a facility with six above-ground storage tanks and the option to add another seven.
In June, Enemed got the green light from the Planning Authority to start the construction of the new project. It then authorised Enemalta plc (the land owner) to immediately start the dismantling of some of the storage tanks that will no longer be needed, as well as the office buildings. This will be done in preparation for the other phases of the dismantling process, which will proceed once the relocation is complete, and will also include the 150-metre pier that juts out into Pretty Bay.
During the last week of September, contracts were signed with the tender-winning companies, and immediately afterwards, technical meetings between teams from the contractors and Enemed were held on a daily basis with a view to starting both underground and new filling depots by this month.
Although dismantling and decommissioning is a somewhat long and laborious process, and the construction of the Ħas Saptan facility will take two years, the people of Birżebbuġa can finally start seeing and believing that there is no turning back on the decision taken by the shareholder to close the installation. The yearning of generations to see this site free from industrial use is to become a reality.
Kevin Chircop is the CEO of Enemed.