Palumbo Shipyards and Malta Environment and Planning Authority officials will be meeting tomorrow in a bid to come up with solutions to address the grit-blasting problem that has been plaguing the Cottonera area over recent weeks.
The meeting was agreed upon after Mepa issued Palumbo with a stop notice to bring grit-blasting to a halt this week following numerous complaints about the airborne by-product of the controversial practice from Cottonera residents as well as from yacht owners whose vessels are berthed at the Grand Harbour Marina, according to a Mepa spokesman.
Labour Parliamentary Whip Joe Mizzi, who raised the problem in Parliament and launched a personal campaign to stop grit-blasting pollution in Cottonera, was satisfied with Mepa’s decision when contacted on Friday.
He said he will be monitoring developments closely, and that he also intends to meet Mepa tomorrow.
According to new legislation forming part of the Mepa reform, Palumbo Shipyards now have 15 days to appeal before the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal, the Mepa spokesman explained.
As such, residents’ will have some respite from the grit-blasting pollution, at the very least until the appeal is heard, if one is lodged at all.
The Mepa spokesman added: “Although it is a fact that the activity is not illegal, Palumbo Shipyards need to present measures they intend to implement to mitigate the problem. The ball is in their court. Our aim is that the work at the shipyards should be carried out in a way that is not detrimental to people’s health.”
Two weeks ago, a Palumbo Shipyards spokesman told The Malta Independent on Sunday that grit-blasting is a vital part of the shipbuilding industry.
“It has been used in the past and it is being used today. We are doing our utmost to reduce emissions and have introduced control measures to alleviate the problem. We are in continuous contact with Mepa and we regularly complete method statements to keep Mepa informed of all grit-blasting activities at the shipyards. At no stage of the privatisation process were we informed that grit-blasting is illegal in Malta,” the spokesman had said.
Speaking to this newspaper, Mr Mizzi noted how grit-blasting on a small scale had begun a few weeks before Republic Day, with the dust produced flying over and settling on Vittoriosa and Cospicua.
There had been some complaints from the owners of yachts moored in the area, as highlighted recently by this newspaper, but residents initially believed it to have been a one-off event. Mepa had said it would investigate the complaints.
On Republic Day, Mr Mizzi said, grit-blasting was carried out both during the day and at night, and people had begun calling him to complain about the noise and air pollution. He eventually brought the situation to the attention of the authorities and decided to personally start taking action.
Mepa’s stop notice followed correspondence between Mepa, Cospicua Local Council and the Labour MP.