Former minister Jesmond Mugliett has hit out at the planning authority's credibility in controlling emissions from heavy industry, saying that for 10 years it took Marsa residents for a ride on the noxious fumes in the Hexagon House area.
Mr Mugliett, who still serves on the government backbenches, claimed that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority only started bothering about the problem when it bought the Hexagon House office block from HSBC Bank.
Mepa employees had to be evacuated from the building last year after noxious fumes polluted the air. Subsequently, the authority investigated the matter and, although a waste oils company in the area was caught illegally dumping oil contaminated water into the sewage system, the problem of bad smells persists.
"People's concerns are real and cannot be ignored. The same concerns are now being raised on the emissions and hazardous waste that will be produced by the new Delimara power station extension. From the experience of how Mepa handled the Marsa fumes problem, the authority has a credibility problem," Mr Mugliett said.
DELIMARA CONCERNS
Last week Mepa approved the outline development permit for the power station extension, barely 24 hours after an urgent parliamentary debate on the matter was held when Speaker Louis Galea upheld a request by the opposition.
The Mepa vote was taken despite calls for it to be postponed pending the Auditor General's conclusion of an investigation into the contract awarded to Danish company BWSC.
Mr Mugliett said he would have been "happier" had the parliamentary debate on the Auditor's report been held before the Mepa vote. A similar call was also made by government MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando.
However, Mr Mugliett's bigger concern on the Delimara saga is environmental.
"I have my doubts on the issue of emissions' monitoring. I feel Mepa's monitoring has become one big joke. It is true Mepa will include a condition for the day-to-day emissions data to be made public but what happens if emissions go beyond EU levels? What teeth will Mepa have to enforce its own conditions," Mr Mugliett asked.
He pointed out that, although Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt assured Parliament the hazardous waste produced would be exported and Enemalta already had contracts in place for the Marsa power station, it transpired that the Marsa precipitators were switched off last year because the chosen contractor did not conform to EU standards of waste disposal.
"People cannot trust the whole system," Mr Mugliett said, insisting the Mepa reform should give the Environment Directorate a public face and more clout to protect the environment and people's health.
The air filtering equipment at Delimara would produce between 7,000 tonnes and 10,000 tonnes of hazardous waste depending on what type of heavy fuel oil is used.
The environment impact assessment had warned the amount of waste generated would have to be exported on a daily basis under strict conditions.
Failure to do so would result in the plant shutting down.