Corradino fuel depot
Date : 2007Client : Paola Local Council
The proposed development, submitted by Enemalta Corporation for a site at the Corradino Fuel Depot and Ras Ħanzir Installation, was for the refurbishment of the existing fuel installation depot and the demolition and rebuilding of tanks. The Malta Environment and Planning Authority considered waiving the environment impact assessment on the pretext that an environmental study was undertaken some years earlier.
The development proposal effectively involved the setting up of a nearly 6 million gallon fuel depot in the hub of the Grand Harbour, Valletta. Together with existing facilities, including existing similar depots within the harbour region and other industrial amenities, this proposed development had to be assessed following an environmental audit of the area, taking into account present development initiatives ranging from the multi-million investment at MCAST premises at Paola and the Valletta Waterfront to the whole inner harbour region.
The development, as proposed, qualified for an EIA. An evaluation of the likely impacts of the proposed development on the environmental health, socio-economic fabric and cultural and natural heritage of the harbour region was imperative.
An EIA had to be undertaken in conjunction with the proposed development in terms of Council Directive 85/337/EEC (as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC). The Environmental Impact Assessments Regulations 2001 (LN 204/2001) had to be interpreted in line with this directive.
Furthermore, given that the proposed development was for the effective relocation of the 31st March 1979 Petroleum Depot from Birżebbuġa to the Ras Ħanzir Installation, an environmental audit of the impacts of the 31st March Petroleum Depot on the surrounding environs should have been undertaken. This would audit the impacts, establishing a realistic benchmark for further developments and the likely effect that they are bound to generate.