Palumbo dumped grit under cement platform, planning appeals tribunal finds

The Environment and Planning Tribunal has confirmed that the dumping of grit-blasting waste under a concrete platform that had been erected in 2012 at the Cospicua shipyard was in breach of regulations but has ordered the authorities to amend the enforcement order issued in 2016 to omit reference to the breach of waste management regulations.

The enforcement was issued in 2016, nearly two years after enforcement officers collected samples from a concrete platform near the Smithery block during a well-publicised inspection of the site.

In its decision, the Tribunal said that the evidence submitted clearly showed “that the material found under the platform consisted of used grit.”

Palumbo claimed that when it took over the shipyards in 2010, it had found a patch of dilapidated land that for decades had been used for grit-blasting and painting activities. They claimed the works took place to level out the rough terrain, and that the area had been cleaned thoroughly before cementing, with any grit-blasting remnants deposited there before assuming ownership of the shipyard.

While the tribunal could not determine when the grit was actually produced, Palumbo had been responsible for operations at the dockyard since 2010, meaning it was obliged to clean the site from the grit.

Palumbo failed to present any evidence that the site had been cleaned from any grit from previous operations when the concrete platform was erected. The grit samples indicated a layer that was between 11.5-32cm, noting that the amount of material was “not insignificant” and amounted to at least 460 cubic metres.

Palumbo’s claim that its 2012 works on the platform had not included any additional levels over and above the original platform, was contradicted by the PA’s investigations that found the original concrete platform located under a layer containing the grit, which was later buried under a new layer of concrete.

The Tribunal also noted that Palumbo was well aware of its obligations to clean the site and to export the material to a foreign facility, to the extent that a permit to export the grit was issued in March 2013. “Still it results that while the applicant was fully aware of its duty to export this waste, for unknown reasons they still chose to dump some of this material under a new concrete platform,” the Tribunal said.

Palumbo report: waste was not hazardous

During proceedings Palumbo presented a report prepared by SAL Ltd, an accredited laboratory in Manchester, concluding that “the site (where the grit was found) could overall be classed as a non-hazardous one.”

But the Tribunal concluded that the toxicity levels of the material were irrelevant to the case. Tests carried out by Prof. Alfred Vella on the behalf of the PA were meant to determine whether grit material had been deposited or not, and not to determine whether this was hazardous or not. “The report commissioned by the appellant does not contradict the conclusion of Vella’s study which confirmed that the material found consisted of used grit.”

The Tribunal concluded that the whole question of whether the material found was hazardous or not did not fell in its remit, also because the enforcement notice did not indicate that the grit was hazardous.

PA ordered to amend enforcement notice

While the Tribunal turned down three out of the four grounds raised by Palumbo in the appeal, it partly accepted the appellant’s argument that it was not in breach of waste regulations issued in 2011 as indicated in the enforcement notice.

The Tribunal reached this conclusion after noting that throughout the proceedings, ERA and PA officials had failed to show how Palumbo was in breach of these regulations. Moreover, ERA had also confirmed that the dockyard has a designated area next to Dock 6 where grit is stored for export and that various permits had been issued for the export of this waste.

In view of this the tribunal gave the PA 30 days to amend the enforcement notice and eliminate any reference to the breach of waste regulations.  This means that after the enforcement order is amended Palumbo will have to present a ‘method statement’ to show how the now buried grit will be recovered, treated and transported from the site.  Following approval of the ‘method statement’, Palumbo will have to complete the removal of the grit waste in six months.