Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/742473
6 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 26 OCTOBER 2016 News Evacuation plans in place for 'extremely unlikely' LNG accident CPD has evacuation plans in case of "extremely unlikely major accident" JAMES DEBONO THE Civil Protection Depart- ment has contingency plans to evacuate Marsaxlokk residents in the case of a major emergency resulting from an accident at the new LNG plant. Such a decision will be taken by the department after "con- sultation" with the Office of the Prime Minister and ElectroGas Ltd. The report was submitted by the CPD in the documentation presented as part of the Integrat- ed Pollution Prevention Control permit. All studies show that any such accident, like the emergence of a large flammable vapour cloud or a fire creating a domino effect re- sulting in explosions in the FSU are "extremely unlikely events". The CPD report acknowledges that "the chances of a serious and very serious event that would put the public/environment at risk off site are remote" but the plan- ning by CPD has to be adequate "regardless of the probability of identified events". According to the plan in the case of a major emergency Elec- troGas Malta Ltd. will distribute an "emergency information card to all households of the local community on behalf of them- selves and the authorities". The emergency action card will list the actions to be taken in an emergency and replicate the in- structions to be received on the automated phone messaging system. The CPD will take the decision as to whether or not to evacuate the resident population "in con- sultation with the operator and the OPM". Procedures for evacuation of people from the facility itself are detailed in an internal emergen- cy plan. Any evacuation of persons within the hazard area outside the plant itself will be under the control of police, and evacuation procedures will be decided at the time, "taking into account the type of incident, weather condi- tions and technical advice given by CPD & the site management". Arrangements are in place for the CPD Emergency Co ordi- nating Officer to request as- sistance from the Malta Police Force, Transport Malta and to use Armed Forces of Malta re- sources when not deployed in their primary role. The "operational section" of the plan is not disclosed on "grounds of national secturity". This is because it is deemed to contain commercial information "pro- vided in confidence for official purposes" and its contents can only to be disclosed on a "need to know" basis to authorities con- cerned with implementing the plan in the event of a major ac- cident at the Delimara site. MEPs call for more rigorous rules on LNG storage across Europe TIM DIACONO THE majority of MEPs have called for more "rigorous and har- monized" safety rules and train- ing for LNG storage. A report by Hungarian MEP Andras Gyurk that has been en- dorsed by the European Parlia- ment "emphasises the need for impact assessments to be made to ascertain the added value of con- structing new LNG transport and storage infrastructure. "We need to establish an inter- nal energy market which fully integrates LNG and gas storage," Gyurk said. "Completing the missing gas infrastructure is es- sential for maximizing the use of the existing LNG terminals and gas storages. We need to invest smartly in order to prevent us from over-investment." The three Nationalist MEPs welcomed the vote in favour of Gyurk's report, saying it is im- portant in Malta's context where an LNG tanker that is set to be berthed in Marsaxlokk Bay is "both unnecessary and more ex- pensive". "In Malta, the issue is that rather than providing electric- ity through continuing with the gas pipeline project or through the interconnector, this Labour government insists on berthing a massive LNG tanker in the mid- dle of Marsaxlokk Bay," Roberta Metsola, David Casa and Therese Comodini Cachia said in a joint statement. "This will affect people's daily lives in the region and would mean electricity is generated at a much higher cost." FAA hits out at Planning Authority 'inconsistencies' JEANELLE MIFSUD FLIMKIEN Ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA) has lambasted the Plan- ning Authority in connection with an application for five apart- ments and a penthouse on an ex- isting building in Sliema, which is due to be approved on Friday. Criticising the Planning Au- thority for its "inconsistencies" and referring to the Planning Authority's control over develop- ment, FAA coordinator Astrid Vella claimed that "we are sink- ing into controlled anarchy with a strong hand deciding who evades control and who has to submit to it." She lamented that the Sliema application refers to "an unsta- ble house dating to the early 1800s along the Sliema Ferries seafront" which had supposedly been refused in 2011, including by the Planning Appeals Board and Sanitary Board in 2014. "It violated the sanitary law which does not permit an eight- storey building in narrow St Vin- cent Street. And yet the devel- oper applied for the same project again, hoping for a more sympa- thetic board," Vella said. The Planning Authority's Cul- tural Heritage Advisory Com- mittee had objected to the pro- posal due to the fact that it found the property to be too narrow to include terracing on St Vincent Street. It had also commented on the proposal's aesthetic impact. "The panel considers that eight f loors on St Vincent Street would have a negative impact on the streetscape and the characteris- tic buildings in the said street," it said. Vella claimed that, at the hear- ing, the chairperson for the En- vironment and Planning Com- mission was very receptive to the developers. "Immediately after the session, the Case Officer's refusal was changed to recom- mended approval in spite of the fact that this project also violates the policy regarding 'Frontage Widths along the Sliema and St Julian's Waterfronts'," Vella said, partially quoting section 17 of the North Harbours Local Plan, which reads that "to avoid pen- cil development along the Sliema and St Julian's waterfronts, pro- posals for new high buildings having a façade width that is less than 25m will not be permit- ted…" Vella noted that the façade for the proposed building has a width of 5.11m. However, the clause also points out that buildings with a smaller façade width are allowed "if the proposed façade will have a design that is identical to, and that is continuous with, that of its existing neighbouring building". "In spite of the Case Officer's recommendation to refuse once again, the PA EPC is to approve this eyesore this coming Friday, 28 October, basing its decision on an invalid precedent and in- correct information supplied by the developers," Vella said. Vella called upon PA chairman Vincent Cassar, CEO Johann Buttigieg, parliamentary sec- retary Deborah Schembri and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to look into this case, asking them to "prevent yet another eyesore and planning scandal". Photomontage of what the proposed development in Sliema would look like