Scrapyard still under stop order when massive fire broke out
Tal-Barrani site also subject to daily penalties and already owes €42,000 in fines
Updated 8.30am
The scrapyard on Tal-Barrani Road was under an active stop-and-compliance order due to its failure to install fire hydrants when last month’s fierce fire erupted.
The order was issued on November 7, 2022, by the Environmental and Resources Authority (ERA) due to the scrapyard breaching several conditions of its environmental permit.
The scrapyard is also subject to daily penalties and already owes €42,000 in fines.
The fire, which broke out on November 12, required 97 firefighters, 16 hours and 1.2 million litres of water to put it out. Motorists were told to avoid the area, and residents in nearby towns and villages were urged to “keep all doors and windows closed as a precaution against smoke and fumes”.
The scrapyard, located on the border of Għaxaq and Żejtun, is owned by Trihills Heavy Industries Limited, a subsidiary of Trihills Group. The Shift reported how the Group earned at least €2.9 million from just 12 government tenders.
It was granted an environmental permit (EP 28/21) on November 22, 2021, on condition that it implements three improvements by set deadlines.
These included submitting a project execution plan to ensure parts of the site were surfaced with impermeable material to prevent pollutants from seeping into the soil.
The owner was also obliged to remove or block off a cesspit within three months of the permit being granted.
Lastly, they were required to install a fire pump and hydrants according to the fire risk plan published by the owners. The fire risk plan stated that the company would “fix three fire hydrants along the inside perimeter of the yard”.
The compliance order flagged that the owners failed to carry out all improvements.
At the time of publication, the scrapyard does not have a valid permit, as it expired last month on November 22 – 10 days after the fire. There is currently a pending application to renew its environmental permit (EP 350/25).
On Thursday, ERA confirmed with Times of Malta that the stop-and-compliance order was issued over a breach of permit condition that includes fire contingency plans.
"At the time of the incident, this order was in force, and it remains in force today. It is also subject to accruing daily fines, which have reached €42,000.
"In the meantime, the permit has expired, and ERA has issued instructions to the operator to stop accepting waste until the permit is renewed."
The fire at this scrapyard occurred days before another blaze broke out at a Marsa scrapyard on November 21, a fire so large that thick plumes of black smoke were visible from space.
The incident was shrouded in controversy, as it emerged that it was the second fire at the Marsa scrapyard in four years, and the scrapyard had a long list of environmental infringements.