Palumbo under investigation for illegal storage of hazardous waste

Palumbo shipyards under investigation over possible hazardous waste illegally buried under dockyards site.

File photo of Antonio Palumbo (centre)
File photo of Antonio Palumbo (centre)
Raffaele Palumbo at the Messina base of the Palumbo shipyards.
Raffaele Palumbo at the Messina base of the Palumbo shipyards.

Officers from the Enforcement Directorate of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) have unearthed quantities of possible hazardous waste which had been illegally buried under layers of concrete flooring in two sites of the Palumbo Shipyard in Cospicua.

The Authority started investigating the site after it received a tip off that quantities of grit blasting material were buried under the concrete foundations. In line with established procedures Palumbo Shipyard is obliged to export all the grit blasting waste it generates.

From initial investigations it results that grit blasting waste which is generated by Palumbo’s operation had been used in the foundations of the yard and was buried under the concrete flooring. Officers also inspected a gutter which runs across the property with the consequence of possibly contaminating the inland sea.

The Authority is collecting various samples of the unearthed waste material to send for testing to determine what procedures and safeguards it needs to take. Investigations are still ongoing.

Antonio Palumbo, owner of the Palumbo Shipyard, was released from house arrest in Italy back in November 2013 after both he and his son Raffaele were arrested in April 2013 over the illegal disposal of toxic waste from their Messina shipyard.

The arrest came following a two-year investigation by Italian environmental police.

Seven people from Neapolitan shipyard owners Palumbo Spa were arrested by the police in April and placed under house arrest in an operation led by the Messina customs police (Guardia di Finanza) and the environmental police (Corpo Forestale).

They were also accused of using maritime transport to dump tonnes of residual ship grift, which is sprayed using high-pressure compressors to treat the ship's sides.

The Palumbos were also charged with tampering of evidence, specifically the identification papers of the waste their ships carried. But according to their lawyers, Palumbo SPA hadin the past initiated civil action against subcontractors who were illegally disposing of sandblasting waste from the Palumbo sites.