De Marco defends position taken on Marsa toxic fumes

The parliamentary secretariat for the environment has reiterated that government ordered a number of initiatives to address the toxic fumes problem in Marsa, including a study to reveal what was causing the fumes.

Toxic fumes have tormented the Menqa area in Marsa - and MEPA’s Hexagon House in particular - for several years now. Earlier this year, Hexagon House employees more than once walked out of their workplace due to the unbearable odours in the area and reported health problems caused by the fumes.

Following the protests, parliamentary secretary for the environment Mario de Marco had taken the bold initiative to spend several days inside the building and see for himself as to the origins of the odours.

In a statement issued yesterday, Labour Party spokesperson for the environment Leo Brincat said government “is more interested in indirectly throwing blame on a parastatal company than a private company that was taken to Court.”

Brincat was referring to Falzon Waste Oils Ltd, whom Labour reported to the police for illegal dumping, which it says was creating the toxic fumes.

But in its statement, the Parliamentary Secretariat said the Opposition’s statement was only intended “to plant doubt on the authorities’ work.”

The authorities included MEPA officials, workers within the Environment Protection Directorate at Hexagon House, officials from Environmental Health Department and Transport Malta officials.

Specifically, De Marco said the secretariat had monitored the air inside Hexagon House and outside, conducted studies by experts to identify the source of the problem, verified industries’ operative processes, identified measures to mitigate environmental risks, and analysed the ventilation system and atmospheric pressure at Hexagon House.

“The studies showed that the toxic fumes derived from the petroleum industry. In the Menqa area, there are a number of tanks which store such petroleum products – which tanks are owned by a number of operators,” De Marco said in a statement.

He added that some operators do not adhere to environmental measures which decrease the environmental impact when carrying out fuel and oil bunkering.