The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) has issued a stop order on some activities being carried out by Mediterranean Offshore Bunkering Co. Ltd (MOBC), until the management of this facility rectifies the situation and installs the required mitigation measures.
MEPA said it is holding talks with the management of MOBC to determine the way forward, given the unacceptability of air pollution resulting from oil berthing facilities.
It has instructed MOBC to desist from carrying out loading and unloading of fuel from and to barges and tankers, any tank to tank transfers and heating of tanks containing fuel.
The stop order has been issued in view of the potential environment risks and nuisances caused by odours generated from such activities, the Authority said.
Residents of the area and workers at Hexagon House have repeatedly complained of unbearable odours.
Last week Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco moved back to his Valletta office after having moved to Hexagon House for two months to personally assess the situation.
In a separate statement this afternoon, the Secretariat for the Environment reacted to a Labour Party statement which said that nothing had been achieved during Dr de Marco's two months at Hexagon House.
The secretariat said that in the past two months there had been increased monitoring of air quality in Hexagon House and in the surrounding area, while experts conducted studies on various areas of possible pollution.
Various measures to mitigate the environmental impact of the operations of the neighbouring industries were identified.
There was also an analysis of the ventilation system in Hexagon House.
The studies confirmed that the source of the complaints was petroleum. Menqa features a number of oil storage tanks beloning to a number of operators. Bunkering operations are also carried out and fuel is transferred from and to the tanks and ships.
The investigations showed that not all the operators took the same measures to prevent the impact on the environment.
Some operators had Integrated Pollution Prevention & Control certification and others did not. Therefore a new system of environmental certification system will be introduced for all industries, the secretariat said.
The secretariat also recalled that is was this government that ended coal storage operations in Marsa and would close the Marsa power station, the main sources of pollution in this locality.