The Infrastructure Minister has revealed that electrostatic precipitators at Marsa power station were shut down for a few months last year by Mepa

He said that Mepa had issued a stop notice against the contractor who was responsible to ensure that flyash was removed according to established regulations.

Once Enemalta awarded a new contract, the precipitators were brought back into operation.

The role of the precipitators is to collect fly ash instead of it being emitted through the power station chimneys.

The precipitators were installed on three boilers when the power station was coal firing. They were converted to oil-firing operation in 2000.

MEPA CLARIFICATION

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) clarified this afternoon that it never ordered the shut down of the Marsa power station precipitators.

"The Authority can confirm that it had informed Enemalta to stop handing over the collected flyash from its precipitators to a contractor who was handling and storing this material illegally and at a site that was not permitted to take the disposal of such waste. The contractor was served with a stop notice," the Authority said.

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