The unbearable stench from the Marsa incinerator is damaging businesses in the vicinity and affecting their employees, a company is claiming.

MMH Holdings Limited, operators of the Mediterranean Maritime Hub, in Marsa, filed a judicial protest against Wasteserv Malta and the public abattoir over the “disgusting, sickening and unbearable smells” it says employees have had to endure for several weeks.

There were times recently when their employees and even those of their subcontractors felt physically ill as a result of the foul smell, it says. Clients also complained forcefully about the odours, the company claims.

Built in 2007, the incinerator handles all the island’s abattoir and clinical waste, refuse-derived fuel and other waste such as industrial sludge.

An autoclave, a pressure chamber capable of extracting animal fat from carcasses, was added in 2016, designed to help Malta reach its sustainable energy strategy.

In its judicial protest, filed in July, the company said it had raised the matter with Wasteserv but to no avail.

It says the situation today remains unchanged.

MMH employs 100 people and part of its grounds are a “no-go” area due to the foul smell. Its employees, it says, can barely breathe due to the fumes and emissions from Wasteserv’s thermal treatment plant.

The company had also alerted the Environment and Resources Authority, which visited the site and investigated. It confirmed its complaints but the situation did not improve, the company said in its judicial protest.

“The emissions and the foul smells are a serious environmental risk and are also endangering people’s health, which is illegal and unacceptable.

“The smells are also affecting business as they are impeding the company from operating serenely and from attracting more business, resulting in a loss of income.”

It held Wasteserv and the civil abattoir responsible for damages. The legal document was signed by lawyer Michael Zammit Maempel.

The abattoir and the Attorney General filed a reply in court denying responsibility but Wasteserv Malta never did and neither did it reply to questions sent by Times of Malta.

The situation was last month highlighted by the Opposition’s environment spokesman, Jason Azzopardi, who criticised the government over the running of its waste management facilities.

Dr Azzopardi accused Environment Minister José Herrera of incompetence.

In his reply, Dr Herrera said the government was focused on improving waste management but did not respond to any of the specific accusations.

A Wasteserv spokeswoman had confirmed at the time that an employee at the incinerator facilities felt sick while at work in September but denied claims that at least two others had to be treated in hospital after falling ill also because of the fumes.

She said the odour was “more an element of nuisance rather than being harmful”.

Marsa incinerator causing stench of death'

The Marsa incinerator facilities should have never been built so near to residents and businesses, Marsa mayor Josef Azzopardi told Times of Malta.

Mr Azzopardi, who became mayor in July, said he had received complaints about the unbearable stench from residents and businesses located in the areas nearest the incinerator.

On his regular commute he would smell something like “a stinking garbage truck” had just driven through, he said.

“We should condemn the fact that a treatment facility of this ilk is so close to a dense residential zone. Furthermore, these smells don’t just affect Marsa but also surrounding localities, such as Paola.”

Huge inconvenience

He said the incinerator should have never been built in a place where people lived and worked.

“Even if reports of people falling ill don’t turn out to be true, the fact remains that its presence here remains a huge inconvenience for our locality,” Mr Azzopardi said.

He urged the Public Health Department and other relevant authorities to investigate the claims thoroughly and ascertain there is no danger to the public.

He also said that the period of time carcasses and other waste were being kept in storage before being incinerated should be looked into and a complete analysis of all the emissions generated by the plant should be conducted.

Dominic Grima, who serves as mayor of Paola, said that when the fumes from the incinerator affected the locality, it smelt as though the “stench of death” had descended.

He said the Lourdes area of Paola had been the most badly affected.

However, the mayor said he had taken the matter up with the relevant authorities and, in the past two months, the locality seemed to have been free of incinerator fumes.