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James Debono
Construction magnate Charles Polidano’s gas plant was never laid subject to an environmental impact assessment, MaltaToday has learnt, despite being situated a mere 200 metres away from a nearby fireworks factory.
Poligas Plant was inaugurated on New Year’s Day in the presence of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Nationalist Party secretary-general Joe Saliba.
Despite not being validated by an EIA, which according to law is required for anything from rabbit farms to wind energy farms, the project was approved by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority in May 2005.
While an EIA had been conducted on the relocation of the Multigas plant in Kirkop, no such assessment was ever carried out on Polidano’s plant.
Asked about the discrepancy, a MEPA spokesperson said the decision not to require an EIA for Poligas was simply based on floor space. “The floor area is 654 metres squared and does not qualify for an EIA,” the MEPA spokesperson told MaltaToday.
Current EIA regulations state that industrial development with a gross floor space of more than 3,000 square metres require an EIA.
But the same regulations state that an EIA should be conducted for the construction of plants manufacturing on an industrial state substances using chemical conversion.
A MEPA spokesperson said the decision that Poligas required no EIA based on space, and because the project does not involve the storage of “combustible” gases.
According to a Poligas promotional leaflet however, the plant produces acetylene, which is explosive on ignition, and nitrous oxide, which is not flammable but its oxygen component causes the combustion of fuel to take place more rapidly. Acetylene can also explode with extreme violence if the pressure of the gas exceeds about 100 kPa, so it is shipped and stored dissolved in acetone or dimethylformamide (DMF).
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
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