The planning authority has issued a guidance document for public consultation on the monitoring of vibrations during quarry blasting.

The guidelines aim to clarify the responsibilities of quarry operators, stipulate threshold levels for vibration monitoring and determine other specifications related to location, design and sensitivity of the monitoring equipment.

They will also provide guidance on the documentation that has to be submitted to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority before and after blasting.

“The purpose of these guidelines is to improve environmental performance by providing quarry operators with details as to how and what is required to monitor vibrations from blasting operations,” Mepa said.

The guidance document is available on the Mepa website – www.mepa.org.mt/public-consultation. Comments can be submitted at environmental.permittingquarries@mepa.org.mt or by mail to: Mepa, PO Box 200, Marsa, MRS 1000 until July 31.