Soil tests carried out in the vicinity of last month’s landfill fire have come back all clear.
However, the authorities are stumped after toxic residues were found unexpectedly in an area not thought to have been affected by the plume.
The Environment and Resources Authority had commissioned the soil tests after waste from black and grey bags caught fire in a massive blaze at the Wasteserv plant in Magħtab on August 31.
The fire prompted a public health hazard alarm, with large swathes of the island put on alert by the health authorities about the possible impact of the fumes and residues from the large plume of black smoke.
The health authorities had also urged civilians to wash any locally grown fruit and vegetables after the fire, for fear that they may have been covered in harmful residues from the blaze.
Mark Scerri, one of ERA’s senior environment protection officers, told The Sunday Times of Malta that favourable weather conditions and the nature of the fire itself had resulted in the least possible contamination to the soil layer.
He explained that the fire burnt at such a high temperature that the main types of residues that authorities were concerned about had not…
