Pretty Bay closed off to the public due to oil patch

Pretty Bay in Birzebbuga is currently temporarily closed off to the public because of large amounts of oil in the sea and on the sand, the Department for Civil Protection said in a statement.

The statement added that Transport Malta had informed the department of the issue, and action was taken straight away to ensure that the oil was no longer carried to the sand.

According to the statement, the case began and was dealt with yesterday afternoon, but reports of oil on the same bay cropped up once again earlier today.

“Unfortunately, there was a large section of sand that was contaminated by the oil by that time,” the statement adds.

The department immediately began its work to remove the oil and ensure that it didn’t contaminate more sand. The department also added that it was working on decontaminated the sand that had been already contaminated.

“Although the oil was controlled by means of particular machinery like absorbents, operations are still underway and the public was advised to avoid going to the area for the time being.”

It added that the police had been notified about the issue and they were investigating where the oil was coming from.