Animal feed impacted by Marsa scrapyard fire to be dumped

Animal feed stored in a warehouse beside a scrapyard that went up in flames is to be dumped to avoid any risk of food contamination, a milk producers’ cooperative has said.

Koperattiva Produtturi tal-Ħalib (KPĦ) said that it was working to dispose of material that may have been impacted by the fire and talking to its suppliers to replace the disposed feed.

It has also taken samples from the site to test for contaminants, it added.  

The cooperative was reacting to concerns about the safety of animal feed it stores in the warehouse along Triq Garibaldi, which is right next door to the JAC Steel scrapyard that caught fire on Friday.

Map shows the location of KPH Feeds and the scrapyard operated by JAC Steel. Photo: Google maps

That fire took an entire day and well over five million litres of water to extinguish and saw schools and roads closed and residents instructed to remain indoors with their windows shut to avoid breathing in fumes.

KPĦ had warned about scrapyard

KPĦ said it has long voiced concerns – including through legal letters - about its primary feed store being adjacent to the scrapyard.

“We have long warned that this is an unacceptable risk on many fronts: it endangers the health and safety of workers, puts our ongoing operations under constant pressure and creates significant risks for Malta’s food safety,” the cooperative said.

“Despite all this, to this day authorities seem to be passing the buck by saying there is no health and safety concerns, with the scrapyard operator allowed to operate freely.”

“Friday’s incident emphasises what KPĦ has long been saying: that the danger the scrapyard poses must be addressed before a tragedy occurs. KPĦ sincerely hopes that enforcement measures will now be taken to ensure that whoever is responsible suffers the consequences of their acts or omissions.”

The Friday fire was the second such event in four years at the JAC Steel scrapyard, following a similar incident in 2021.

It is not yet known what caused Friday’s fire but an investigation following the 2021 incident revealed a litany of irregularities at the site.

Inspectors from the environmental regulator, ERA, inspected the site more than 100 times over the following year. By October of 2022, inspectors had again discovered irregularities at the site.

ERA nevertheless renewed the scrapyard’s licence the following year, telling Times of Malta that “a satisfactory level of compliance was reached” by the scrapyard.

The scrapyard’s operator, Conrad Baldacchino, did not respond to questions sent via his lawyer.

Lawyer Jason Azzopardi, who was among the first to raise the alarm about animal feed being potentially contaminated by the fire, said he was relieved by the KPĦ statement.

“Between Friday and today nobody from the government or any MP spoke up to reassure us, something the KPĦ has now done,” he said. “They also did not assure farmers that they will not have to pay a cent for any of this.”