Labour's environment spokesman, Leo Brincat, and the Mayor of Marsasxlokk, Edric Micallef, questioned today how  65-metre chimneys had been built as part of the Delimara power station extension when they were not covered by the Mepa permit issued last year.

At the time, Mepa had said that the issue of the chimneys was 'a reserved matter' since studies were still pending on the dispersal of emissions.

Mr Brincat said Enemalta had carried out studies on NOX and SOX, which were light gasses which dispersed easily, but the issue was heavier emissions having particles which were quickly deposited in the immediate surroundings.

At 65 metres, the chimney was almost in line with the top of the Delimara plateau, compared to the old chimney which is 110 metres high, Mr Brincat said.

He said that the study on the heavier particles was only completed this month and handed to Marsaxlokk council last week.

The Mayor said the report would be studied by experts, but it was absurd that the chimney had been built when the studies still had to be analysed.

Mr Brincat said Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco, who is responsible for Mepa, was politically responsible for what had happened. In normal circumstances, Mepa issued enforcement orders in cases such as this, he said.

He noted that the height of 65 metres was what Enemalta had wanted in the first place when the permit application had been submitted.

In his press conference, held at Marsaxlokk seafront, Mr Brincat asked what had become of a call for tenders to install precipitators to reduce emissions from  the old part of Delimara power station. A number of bids had been submitted, but then the offer was mysteriously cancelled by the government, Mr Brincat said. He asked why this decision was taken.

Mr Micallef also reiterated the council's opposition for the transportation of waste from the power station through the streets of Marsaxlokk.

Government reaction

In a reaction, the Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for Enemalta, and the Secretariat for Tourism and the Environment, said the power station is being built to high EU environmental standards and its completion is vital for Malta to continue to attract investment and safeguard jobs.

The extension of the power station is covered by a Mepa permit issued in May 2009 . At the time it was decided that the height of the chimneys would be considered as part of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control permit. The IPPC criteria were determined by EU rules. Therefore, what needed to be determined was the height of the chimneys and not whether there should be chimneys.

The public consultation process as part of the IPPC was launched on August 24, but the Opposition was using this process for its partisan ends.