Residents living next to a Naxxar quarry are exposed to polluted air that often produces more dust than the legal limit, a recent air quality study has found.
The study was commissioned by residents living near the Birguma quarry owned by J&C Gatt Ltd.Researchers found the amount of dust particles in the quarry was over the legal limit in 24 of 37 readings taken over six weeks in the area close to residences last June and July.
Seven of those readings took place as wind was blowing Saharan dust over Malta. But in 17 instances, excessive dust was reported despite no Saharan wind crossing through the country.
Dust was also far more likely to be above the legal limit during the working week.
“The data strongly suggests that the activities at Quarry HM28 are a significant contributor to the elevated dust levels observed on working days, with the dust dispersion predominantly directed from the northeast,” the study carried out by Ensure Monitoring concluded.
Claire Bonello, a lawyer representing Birguma residents, said the levels of particulate matter (PM) in the air threatens the health of residents.
“Particulate matter such as dust particles can cause or aggravate cardiovascular and lung diseases, heart attacks and arrhythmias. It can also affect the central nervous system and the reproductive system and can cause cancer.”
It is unfair for a public authority such as ERA to dismiss residents’ health concerns
These worries are beside other problems like having terraces, gardens and roofs that “are permanently covered with a film of dust,” she said.
Contacted for comment, the manager of the quarry said the quarry’s operations are in line with the regulations set out by the Environmental and Resources Authority.
“ERA inspect us every one or two weeks and always find everything up to standard,” Anthony Ciappara said, adding that the quarry takes several precautions to prevent the spread of dust in the area.
“For example, we wet the dust so it sticks to the ground. But at the end of the day this is a quarry,” he said.
Ciappara added that the quarry has been located at the Birguma site before houses were built in the area.
“We were here 50 years ago; the houses came after that,” he said.
Maltese legislation sets daily and yearly legally binding limits to the amount of microscopic dust particles that can be floating in the air.
That legislation says that larger dust particles (PM10) can only exceed a limit of 50 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m³) a day on 35 occasions in a calendar year. The law also says that, on average, the amount of large particle dust in the year should not go over 40 μg/m³.
However, researchers found that the number of dust particles in the year regularly went beyond the legal limit.
On days when wind from the Sahara Desert was not blowing, researchers measured as high as 76.62 μg/m³ dust particles in the air. Besides the readings taken in June and July, researchers also measured the air quality during the Santa Maria holiday, a time when the construction industry is on pause.
Results show significantly fewer dust particles in the air on the three occasions that researchers measured the air during that time. Between August 15 and 18, test results found PM 10 levels at 19.5, 27.36, 29.05 and 28.58, significantly lower than the daily legal limit of 50 μg/m³.
ERA is responsible for ensuring that particle dust limits are complied with.
Bonello said that ERA was contacted several times about the issue with reference to the study conclusions.
“ERA did not actually view the study, it dismissed it, saying that it did not appear to account for other potential sources of dust, such as nearby road works or construction activities.”
However, residents said there were no construction or roadworks during the monitoring period, Bonello said.
In correspondence seen by Times of Malta, ERA said regular inspections take place at the quarry and the quarry owners have obeyed the conditions laid out by the permit.
But Bonello said the quarry was in violation of the permit conditions on several fronts.
One condition, for example, states that, “crushing of inert waste shall be carried out without significant dust emissions,” but the study results show that the emissions are evident, Bonello said.
“Another condition states that, ‘Where technically feasible stockpiles shall be covered (by impermeable membrane or thick plastic/rubber sheets) and sprinkled with water regularly, particularly during the summer months.’ However, large mounds of dust are uncovered and can be blown away by the wind, polluting the air in the vicinity,” Bonello said.
She said that the quarry owners are also obliged to use dust suppression systems, “yet these never seem to be used”.
Bonello said she has filed repeated requests for information as to when inspection reports were held and what measures are being taken but was not given a reply.
“It is unfair for a public authority such as ERA to dismiss residents’ health concerns so cavalierly and stonewall about mitigation and monitoring measures,” Bonello said.
“The matter will not stop here.”