Farm slurry is being illegally dumped onto fields in Gozo, potentially contaminating both the water table and soil with cancer-causing nitrates.
A bowser full of slurry was pictured pumping its contents into a field off a busy road in Għajnsielem.
The photographic evidence was sent to the health inspectorate services within the Gozo Ministry, but by the time of writing no replies were received on any action being taken.
The Environment Ministry, which was also copied in this correspondence, insisted that since the turn of this year it had received no report on such abuse in Malta and Gozo.
Sources in the Gozitan farming industry insisted that dumping of slurry as a fertiliser was not an isolated incident, saying that in recent weeks such practice had become relatively common.
Though slurry – normally a mixture of animal waste and other organic material – spurs plant growth and provides good yields, it comes at the cost of compromising food safety, and increasing nitrates which are linked to a higher incidence of cancer.
“Despite the foul smell and the fact that fields turn black with slurry, such activity is being done with impunity, across various parts of Gozo,” sources in the farming industry said.
The lack of enforcement by the authorities is playing into the hands of the abusers
“However, the lack of enforcement by the authorities is playing into the hands of the abusers as they are ploughing the fields a few days later to hide any evidence of such practice, at least for the naked eye.”
In its reply, the Environment Ministry confirmed that dumping of slurry was illegal as established by subsidiary legislation.
Moreover, a spokesman pointed out that the matter was also regulated at EU level through the Nitrates Directive whose objective was “to protect water quality across Europe by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources polluting ground and surface waters and by promoting the use of good farming practices”.
Asked about the enforcement of these laws, the ministry said that only samples of ground water were being tested for excessive nitrates. The spokesman said that apart from slurry, there could be various other factors contributing to contamination of soil with nitrates, and consequently testing soil would give inconclusive results.
The ministry noted that the Agriculture Directorate, which is the competent authority to enforce the nitrates directive, had received no reports by third parties in 2019 about illegal dumping of slurry.
While noting that the public could report such abuses with the directorate, the spokesman added that in the past three years the entity performed over 200 inspections on different holdings.
However, no information was provided about any instances whereby the nitrate levels had exceeded the limits, nor what kind of action was taken in the case flagged in Gozo.
Last year, the Water Services Corporation which manages the only wastewater recycling plant in Gozo, sealed access to the sewers by welding all manholes suspected of being used for illegal dumping of slurry.
The move was done as a result of a new facility, whereby farmers were being instructed to dispose of slurry through a dedicated manhole at the Ras il-Ħobż wastewater plant. Though this complex was never intended to process such kind of waste, the corporation installed new equipment which filtered the slurry prior to being pumped into the plant which is solely designed to treat domestic waste.
The introduction of such equipment had drastically reduced illegal dumping of slurry in the sewers, which at times had resulted in the entire plant being clogged up, and the outflow of raw sewage at Ras Il-Ħobż, which is a popular diving spot.
In 2014, an investigation by The Sunday Times of Malta had uncovered illegal dumping of slurry in the Burmarrad area prompting an investigation by the Commissioner for Environment and Planning within the Office of the Ombudsman.