First San Luċjan oil tank emptied and cleaned, ministry says
The clearing of the site was originally tabled for the end of 2024
The first of 12 fuel storage tanks that were originally slated to be decommissioned by the end of 2024 has been cleaned, with similar operations underway for the remaining tanks, the energy ministry has said.
In a statement Sunday, the ministry said the largest of the 12 heavy fuel oil storage tanks at the San Luċjan oil storage facility in Birżebbuġa had been emptied and cleaned in an operation that took around a month.
It said similar operations were underway on the remaining tanks.
Plans to decommission and dismantle the oil tanks at San Luċjan were approved by the Planning Authority in February 2024, with the energy ministry saying at the time that the tanks would be decommissioned by the end of that year.
During a visit to the site, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli described the cleaning operation as a “meticulous and time-consuming process, as we must ensure full compliance with health and safety requirements as well as environmental standards”.
Petromal chairman James Camenzuli noted that the work could only begin after an appeal process related to the awarding of the tank-cleaning contract had been concluded.
Fuel storage was shifted away from the San Luċjan to Ħas-Saptan in 2021, in the first step to rehabilitating the Birżebbuġa area.
On the cusp of the 2022 general election, Dalli announced plans to transform the site into a €40 million research space and recreational area named ‘Is-Siċċa’ and designed by Italian design house Pininfarina.