Authorities seem to be turning a blind eye to the “illegalities” going on at the Ricasoli tank cleaning facility in Kalkara, former minister Joe Mizzi said in Parliament.

Venting his frustration on Tuesday, Mizzi said:

“The tank cleaning facilities have various illegalities and should not be operating in the first place. There are serious abuses and the plant is posing a serious threat to Kalkara residents,” he said.

“This plant is giving rise to pungent smells but, for some reason, no action is being taken despite the fact that reports are being filed,” Mizzi remarked.

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

The former minister, who hails from Cottonera, raised the point in a supplementary question to Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia in which he asked what action was being taken by the government in this regard.

In his reply, the minister said that the Environment Resources Authority had recently carried out an inspection. Moreover, a planning application had been filed to relocate the plant, he said.

However, the Labour backbencher insisted it was public knowledge that there was no alternate site which could accommodate this facility.

Mizzi suggested the government should explore the possibility of an offshore location and a system by which the sludge collected during operations would be exported on barges.

He asked for a copy of the findings of the ERA inspection.

The environment minister confirmed that the proposal for an offshore relocation was the subject of the pending planning application. He added that the results of the ERA inspection would be made available to the Labour MP.

Ricasoli Tank Cleaning Facility is operated by Waste Oil Limited, which was given a 30-year lease to manage the plant in 2013.

In 2017, the tank facility's operators were caught dumping a black liquid into the sea.