The European Commission said yesterday that data supplied by the Maltese authorities in 2005 shows that EU air quality limits were exceeded throughout the whole island.
The Commission was reacting to comments made to The Times earlier this week by a senior Mepa official on the issue of air quality in Lija and a construction material plant nearby.
According to a Commission spokesman, in 2005, Malta's two air quality stations reported to the Commission that daily PM10 readings exceeded limit values for 81 and 126 days respectively as well as the annual limit value, which is established at 40 micrograms/m3.
Mepa's environment director Martin Seychell wondered how the Commission had arrived to the conclusion that the high level of PM10 particles in Lija could be attributed only to one construction plant (Blokrete Ltd).
Replying to a petition by a Lija resident a few weeks ago, the European Commission had said that air pollution levels in Lija exceeded EU limits. In his petition, Michael Zammit complained that Blokrete Ltd, which produced construction material, emitted dust and noise to the detriment of the health and safety of Lija residents.
The Commission's spokesman yesterday denied that the EU executive had come to the conclusion suggested by Mepa's official.
"The Commission only noted that Malta had officially declared exceedance in the air quality zone in which Lija resides." At the same time, the EU executive admitted that it arrived to this conclusion in the way described by Mr Seychell, thus by agglomerating results and concluding that the results at Msida should stand also for Lija.
"Our conclusion was based on the zoning performed by the Maltese government," the spokesman explained.
According to EU rules, a zone is the basic unit in the assessment and management of air quality under EU air quality legislation. Even if only a limited area in a zone is in exceedance, the whole zone is declared in exceedance.
"If the Maltese government thinks that current zoning does not adequately represent the air quality in Malta it is free to change it, respecting the minimum conditions set by the EU directives," the spokesman said.
Rebutting Mr Seychell's arguments that Malta has five air quality stations, the Commission said it only has information coming from two stations as submitted by the Maltese government.
Brussels has warned the island it is considering taking action against it for delays in submitting air quality reports.
"Malta's 2006 report is already very late as it was supposed to be delivered by the end of September. We are, in fact, currently considering taking action against Malta," the spokesman said.
What is particulate matter (PM)?
Particulate matter, or PM, are very small dust and soot particles. There are PM10 and PM2.5.
PM10 is matter that is 10 micrometres in diameter. That would be about one-seventh the width of a strand of human hair.
PM2.5 is even smaller - measuring 2.5 micrometres or less.
PM is made up of a number of components.
Soil and dust particles and certain metals are emitted directly into the air as PM.
The primary human-caused sources of PM include blowing dust from construction sites and agricultural activities as well as combustion products from solid fuels such as fly ash (from power plants), carbon black (from automobiles and diesel engines) and soot (from fireplaces and wood stoves).