Birzebbugia mayor warns Enemalta it will be held responsible over coal ash waste

Birzebbugia’s local council is ready to hold Enemalta responsible for any damages over ash residue from the coal burnt at the Marsa power station that was dumped in a Benghisa quarry, in the south of the island.

L-orizzont said Joseph Farrugia, Birzebbugia’s mayor, had asked residents to collect any ash that gets transported into their houses with the wind, to give it to the local council for further studies. However Farrugia noted that none of the residents has yet come forward.

According to a study carried out, by Josette Camilleri and Franco Montesin of the Faculty of Architecture and Engineering of the University of Malta, together with Michael Sammut from the Department of Pathology of Mater Dei, the ash was radioactive and therefore dangerous.

The Marsa power plant stopped being fired by coal in 1995, but until then trucks were dumping between 10 to 20 tonnes of fuel waste every day, Farrugia said. “Moreover, adding to the ash from the power station, developers were also dumping their waste in the same quarry. This resulted in the quarry being two storeys high, with seven storeys of waste underneath.”

Farrugia told l-orizzont that when dredging was being done by the Freeport, he had come to an understanding with them to cover the quarry with soil to cover the waste. However, due to weather and especially rain, the ash was uncovered again. “The worst problem would be when the wind would fly the ash over to the residents’ houses,” Farrugia said.