Updated | Marsascala park safe to be reopened

WasteServ CEO Jonathan Scerri today said that the family park in Marsascala poses no health risks and could be reopened as from tomorrow, although in a statement issued later in the afternoon, WasteServ categorically denied that Jonathan Scerri "said or gave the impression that the Family Park can be reopened as from tomorrow."

In the abscence of the environment minister Leo Brincat, Scerri insisted that the park was closed in July as a "precautionary measure," however since MEPA had stationed a monitoring unit on site, the real-time readings confirmed that the faulty hydrolyser never posed any health risks.  

The real-time readings resulted negative, and Scerri today claimed that there was no issue with reopening the family park.

"The difference is that in July we had no real time monitoring and therefore the government, upon the recommendation of experts closed down the park as a precautionary measure," Scerri said.

The Marsascala park was temporarily closed in July upon the advice of experts who recommended it should be declared "out of bounds" because of a fault in the adjacent recycling plant managed by WasteServ.

A team of experts led by physicist Edward Mallia had concluded that a hydroliser tank was damaged and the experts had said that until the necessary repairs were made to the hydroliser, the family park should be closed.

The hydrolising tank at WasteServ St Antnin facility suffered internal damage on 20 April however real time monitoring by MEPA has ruled out that there was ever a health risk to the employees or the residents in the  vicinity, including the family park visitors.

The CEO held that too much political attention is being given to the situation while the work and efforts of WasteServ's engineers and experts is being overlooked.

Events date to 20 April when WasteServ noticed a lack of agitation inside the first tank of the digestive system. This is the first stage of project that convert solid domestic waste into biogas used to generate electricity.

A process to clean the tank was initialised and on the 26 April a deformation was noticed on the side of the tank.

Further cleaning resulted that the tank was punctured when the agitator blades hit the side.  This was due to a mechanical failure of the shaft that holds the agitator.

This shaft is generally fixed at both ends, however for unknown reasons this was only foxed at the top, allowing the agitator to swing in the process and hit the side.

On 10 May a bigger deformation was found on the tank's side. The manufacturers sent their representative who advised that the tank needs to be opened and disassembled for repairs. 

The cleaning process was completed by 22 June and experts entered the tank to asses the damage.

Two days later, a quote was requested for the damaged tank including  the services of a specialised repair team. The Ministry of Finance was informed and a direct order for the parts was requested.

This was approved in July and the parts were ordered. WasteServ instructed the manufacturers to modify the shaft in order to secure it from both ends. This will guarantee that the damage is not repeated.

The CEO continued that the preparation work will ready by mid-November. four weeks later the internal coating of the tank will be cured and e tank would enter its test phase. It is expected that normal operation inside the tank would resume by mid-February 2014.

In the meantime, WasteServ engineers bypassed the tank and used an alternative tank to keep the system going. The company has managed to keep the same output of gas as that prior to the incident , however the generation of bacteria is now taking longer.

Another issue was that the secondary tank was not constructed to be used as a hydroliser and lacked the equipment that filters sulphur residue gasses.

Wastesrve engineers were called to take measures and this noxious residue is now being routed to the company's flare were it is combusted and turned into a safer gas.

Risk assessments carried out by WasteServ also resulted in the negative and employees were not instructed to take health precautions, as there was no risk.

Asked if the employees working near the company's flare are exposed to any risk, the CEO replied that this is an automated, self-controlled phase of the project.

WasteServ Chairman David Borg commented that the incident happened in the weeks following the election and with no real time air monitoring results available the architect Mallia applied precaution when drawing his report. Through MEPA's monitoring, WasteServ now has more reliable results and can act accordingly.

After the park's closure, the Opposition slammed the government's decision to close down the family park as "vindictive", adding that the government was denying families the right to enjoy the EU-funded project.

Moreover, apart from the fault at the WasteServ plant, environment minister Leo Brincat had asked the OPM's management efficiency unit (MEU) to compile a technical report on the €7 million family park opened days before the March general election, which the government claims is blighted by administrative and infrastructural problems.

The report revealed how an expedient procurement was carried out urgently, and perhaps in time for a pre-electoral show of strength.

The MEU concluded that the development of the Sant' Antnin Family Park was "excessively reliant on the process of variations and direct orders to such a degree that this can only be explained by lack of foresight and adequate planning."

The park, managed by national waste agency WasteServ, is estimated to have cost around €8 million, with actual contracts awarded amounting to €6,920,000 and €890,000 in direct orders. These contract variations and made up around 40% of the actual expenditure incurred to-date.

Over €500,000 in direct orders were approved by the ministry for resources and rural affairs just a few weeks before the park was inaugurated by prime minister Lawrence Gonzi on 24 February, barely two weeks before the general election.

Environment minister Leo Brincat had said that the government will see that the park, once reopened, is managed in a sustainable manner.