"My child will also bathe there tomorrow," Mladen Krivokapić told CIN-CG/Monitor.
He is one of 15 workers who worked on cleaning the grounds of the former Shipyard in Bijela. The removal of huge quantities of grit and other hazardous materials was to be completed by the end of June. However, this group's contracts were not extended in May, after, as they claim, they warned the authorities that the land is being cleaned unprofessionally and that dangerous asbestos remains and continues to poison the land and threaten people's health.
"Somewhere seven meters were dug and the earth was cleaned, and somewhere, as it should not be, only half a meter. We asked the Agency for Nature and Environmental Protection and CETI to check it. However, instead of CETI taking the sample himself, the company Valgo gives it to him and they say everything is fine. The agency doesn't even show up," says Krivokapić.
According to him, the five-member team, trained by experts from Valgo from Paris, separated asbestos from the grit.
"Complete equipment, like astronauts - gloves, masks, spacesuits, oxygen... Up to eight kilograms of asbestos was extracted daily and stored according to a special procedure. "Several tons of asbestos are now stored in the Shipyard, awaiting export," says Krivokapić.
From the French company Valgo, whose representatives with the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, signed in June 2018, the contract on soil remediation in the former Bijela shipyard, and from the Agency for the Protection of Nature and Environment, we did not receive any answers regarding the claims of the dismissed workers.
Valgo got the job after an international tender. The removal of grit (solid waste and contaminated land) is part of the project to clean up ecological black spots, for which Montenegro took a loan of 50 million euros from the World Bank. After that, it is planned to open a mega yacht service in Bijela, based on a 30-year concession given by the Government to the Damen - Porto Montenegro consortium.
The protest of these workers and the stored asbestos in Bijela additionally actualized another issue of the threatened health of the population. Although the European Parliament approved a resolution in 2013 declaring 2028 as a reasonable deadline for an "asbestos-free Europe", Montenegro still has neither a list of buildings nor a precise plan on how to remove from the environment the material that causes some of the most serious diseases.
Government departments whose business is ecology mainly deal with shifting responsibility and remind that the Environment Act from 2016 (11 years after the EU directive) completely prohibits the marketing and use of all types of asbestos fibers, and that buildings built after this period, they do not contain parts where this hazardous material can be found.
Inhaling fibers causes lung cancer
The problem is in the existing facilities and devices. Inhaling asbestos fibers has been proven to cause lung cancer and other lung diseases. Asbestos fibers are invisible, up to 500 times thinner than a hair. The consequences of exposure to the "silent killer" can occur even after 40 years.
"Asbestos is all around us" is the name of the brochure that was published ten years ago by the Croatian Institute of Toxicology, and the Manual on handling materials containing asbestos fibers, issued by the Ministry of Sustainable Development in 2017, is reminiscent of it to a large extent, including the illustrations. and Tourism (MORT) and the Agency for Nature and Environmental Protection.
The presence of asbestos is assumed if the building was built or renovated before the year 2000, according to this manual.
Prominent Dutch expert Harry Vonk, author of numerous books on this topic, pointed out during his visit to Belgrade last year that more than 18.000 objects contain asbestos, of which only 15 percent do not cause cancer.
"The harmful health effects of inhaled asbestos particles are a consequence of its proven carcinogenic effect," Dr. Ivana Joksimović from the Institute of Public Health of Montenegro told CIN-CG.
“If necessary, asbestos removal should only be carried out under strict control measures to avoid exposure. This requires the use of personal protective equipment - special respirators, protective glasses, protective gloves and clothing, as well as adherence to special instructions for their decontamination".
From the boiler to the brakes
As Joksimović reminds us, asbestos is incorporated in households in different places, in exterior or partition walls, in different forms of cement mixture or mixture with polymers such as vinyl, old salonite boards on roofs, as an insulator in ovens, boilers or boilers for steam heating, in plumbing pipes, electrical devices, automotive brake systems, gloves and clothing for heat protection...
Joksimović states that workers in shipbuilding, builders, in the tractor industry, electrical engineering, motor and textile industry, in house remodeling, asbestos removal, as well as miners are also at risk of contracting asbestosis and other asbestos-related diseases.
"It is very important to emphasize that asbestos materials should not be touched, if it is not absolutely necessary, because the dismantling represents a very big problem due to the dangers to which both workers and citizens are exposed during such work," emphasizes Joksimović.
The World Health Organization estimates that 125 million people worldwide are annually exposed to asbestos in the workplace. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), more than 107.000 workers die each year from diseases caused by such exposure.
Several thousand people die each year from asbestos in their environment. According to estimates by European experts, about half a million people in the EU will die by 20 due to exposure to asbestos in the second half of the 2030th century. Although Sweden banned it 30 years ago, the number of deaths due to occupational exposure to asbestos is two to three times higher than deaths due to occupational injuries.
The consequences of exposure to asbestos in Montenegro are not well known.
"According to data obtained from health institutions, diseases that can be linked to asbestos exposure are very rarely reported, but currently there is no mechanism to confirm a causal relationship with certainty. The development of the register of occupational diseases will create the conditions for connecting, identifying and confirming occupational diseases related to asbestos", says Joksimović.
This registry has never existed in Montenegro, and the Government's strategy for the improvement of occupational medicine 2015-2020 states that "there are no reliable data on the incidence and prevalence of occupational diseases". There is a Rulebook on determining occupational diseases, which lists 56 occupational diseases, including lung asbestosis. Data on patients - none.
Đina Mitrić, coordinator of the Occupational Safety and Health Association, reminds that the need to raise awareness about the risks was pointed out on the World Lung Cancer Day on August XNUMX. One of the most common forms of cancer is associated with exposure to hazardous substances, such as asbestos.
"But people here don't seem to want to hear about it," says Mitrić.
Experts needed only for loans
According to her, the association contacted the professors from the Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology who were in the expert teams regarding the mentioned grit in Bijela and found that none of them had any information about the events at that location.
"The moment the funds were received from the World Bank, their expert opinions were no longer of interest to anyone. It is only known that the grit is still lying in sacks, which are disintegrating, in Bijela. What happened to the asbestos that was extracted from it and other dangerous impurities, heavy metals, no one knows," says Mitrić.
Construction engineer and appraiser Predrag Nikolić points out for CIN-CG that it is necessary to remove asbestos pipes in the water system and that this work will also be dangerous for the health of the workers, so the necessary equipment and protection should be provided". Monitor/CIN-CG wrote that it is necessary to replace about 620 kilometers of water pipes in the Montenegrin water supply system, and 100 million euros are necessary for this.
There is progress in this area in the region.
Siniša Mitrović, from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, explains to CIN-CG/Monitor that during the last year they intensified cooperation with the Dutch company KIWA, which is the leader in Europe for asbestos disposal. So far, they have created a project Monitoring asbestos in Serbia, in which there is a special emphasis on public facilities - schools, barracks, centers for social work, health and agricultural facilities, water infrastructure...
"We are increasing the capacity of the laboratory for testing the presence of asbestos in construction facilities, and the first training center for training in the handling of asbestos during the demolition of buildings and proper disposal. We are finalizing the new rulebook on asbestos, the previous one was drawn up in 2010. The most important thing is that we are ready for a regional monitoring project, as well as a regional center for the permanent storage of asbestos", says Mitrović.
He recommends to his colleagues in Montenegro to establish contact with a Dutch company, which, among other things, can help in accessing EU funds to solve this problem.
"The cadastre of buildings containing asbestos has been started, but given that there is no legal regulation by which representatives of local self-governments would be obliged to report such buildings, this work cannot be carried out well", Mirjana Sklabinski from the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Serbia assesses. . "The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism does not have data on the buildings in the construction of which asbestos was used," MORT replied to CIN-CG/Monitor.
According to architect Borislav Vukićević, this indicates a whole series of problems. He explains that the formation of a database of objects in which asbestos is present is the first step on the way to defining the procedures and procedures for its safe removal.
"If there is no initial data - then it is not possible to plan further activities. This does not only apply to the list of objects. It is necessary to determine the exact positions of the asbestos elements in those buildings, which would, I assume, be a serious and big job that would necessarily precede the actual removal," says Vukićević.
With a reminder of the existing manual, the Agency submitted data that in 2010 they issued a permit for the export of 1.500 tons of waste construction materials containing asbestos.
The second permit was issued in March 2018, when 200 tons were exported. The waste was exported to Germany, and the work was done by the company Hemosan from Bar.
Zoran Nikitović from Hemosan says that their company worked throughout the territory of Montenegro removing, packing, storing and exporting hazardous waste, including asbestos. Since 2010, they have exported a total of 1.488,70 tons of all types of hazardous waste - Porto Montenegro 594,20 tons, Luštica Development 145 tons, Porto Novi 220,37 tons. It is exported to EU countries, one of which is Germany.
"The price is determined by parameters such as quantity, type, export destination, packaging, storage..." says Nikitović.
"He is not allowed to announce the exact prices due to contractual obligations," he explains, "but they range from 1.100 to 1.300 euros per ton."
"The essence is to protect the population from a disease called asbestosis, which causes lung cancer and is recognized worldwide as one of the causes of lung diseases. It is very important that protection measures are implemented rigorously and that there is no improvisation in this type of work, as with all types of hazardous waste, and there is a procedure for each hazardous waste. Export is done according to the Basel Convention, and it is quite difficult to get a permit to the final destination. Storage after packaging can be at the work location, or if the quantities are smaller, in our warehouses, which are specialized and safely packed," says Nikitović.
From the Agency, when asked what kind of waste construction materials it was, whether they were removed from old buildings, how much it cost to remove and export to Germany, they said that they did not have this information and referred it to MORT.
The Directorate for Inspection Affairs, however, says that the Agency also has jurisdiction:
"Asbestos embedded in buildings, in case of demolition, i.e. removal is considered hazardous waste, according to the Law on Waste Management. Investors or contractors, depending on who is the owner of such waste, have the obligation to draw up a construction waste management plan, and as asbestos is considered hazardous construction waste, they have the obligation to obtain the approval of the Agency for Nature and Environmental Protection for the plan.
"In previous years, on several large investment projects, asbestos roof covering was removed. Asbestos removal is entrusted to a legal entity that has a permit from the Agency for the management of this type of waste. After the removal of the asbestos material, it was packed and after obtaining permits, it was exported from Montenegro for permanent disposal", said the Administration.
MORT announced to CIN-CG that "in order to introduce energy efficiency measures", a large number of health facilities, educational and social institutions and buildings where the administration is located were renovated, and that "...in case of finding asbestos materials, the same was removed and managed in an adequate and legally prescribed manner".
For the exact number of buildings, they referred to the Ministry of Economy.
In one of his last public appearances, former Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism, Pavle Radulović, demonstrated the same deductive method in October last year during a parliamentary debate, in which asbestos and a large number of cancer patients were mentioned.
"We mentioned asbestos - that is a factual situation. We are grown people, we can tell fairy tales, but asbestos pipes still exist, asbestos roofs exist, asbestos facades still exist in certain parts of Montenegro. Those citizens have been warned. I hope that the state has the strength, that where there is a social program, these things will be regulated because the citizens cannot get out of this story by themselves".
Radulović resigned, and the head of MORT is Prime Minister Duško Marković. Asbestos is not in the program documents of the current election campaign.
The Spanish will no longer waste
In Bijela, it was necessary to treat 150 thousand tons of material - soil, dust from metal scraps and other waste, on an area of about 18 thousand square meters. The project relies on Valgo's expertise in detailed analysis of contaminated soil and treatment of sensitive waste including hydrocarbon derivatives, metal and asbestos.
From March to August last year, 38.500 tons of grit were exported to Spain. In September last year, the Government of Montenegro asked Spain for permission to export another 30.000 tons of solid waste and 40.000 tons of contaminated soil. The Spanish refused. Since then, the export of grits has been stopped. The Valgo company announced in April of this year that the Norwegian Environmental Protection Agency gave the green light for the import of contaminated soil from the Bijela Shipyard.
"Tons of grit, enough to fill 7-8 ships, are waiting to be exported. Everything stopped, even though according to the contract with Valga, it was supposed to be finished by June 30," says Krivokapić.
Salonite was known to be harmful
Asbestos was particularly widely used in construction from the 1950s to the mid-80s. This material was installed in factories, halls, houses, entire residential areas, but also in schools and hospitals throughout the former Yugoslavia. It was used most often in components of vinyl tiles and vinyl floors and, popular in Yugoslavia, salonite for roofs. The Salonit factory in Vranjic near Split, which used asbestos in the production of building materials since 1921, produced over seven million tons of salonit roofing sheets.
"It was known even 40 years ago that salonite is harmful. I remember that my father took it off the old house and covered the barn and the sheds with it," says the farmer from Bjelopavlić. A similar experience is described in the Croatian manuals dealing with this topic: "If people were aware of this danger, it would not happen that the replaced roof covering made of asbestos sheets ended up as a temporary roof covering for all possible canopies, storage rooms, as protection and a roof for wood and dog houses etc”.
Asbestos is a solid material, and any work on its removal or replacement when there is tearing, breaking, piercing, drilling creates the emission of asbestos dust, which when inhaled causes serious diseases.
In 2018 alone, close to 300 tons of asbestos waste were removed in Serbia. The plan is to create a national register in the next two years so that Serbia can also apply for European funds and rehabilitate as many buildings as possible.
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