Vaso Knežević, president of the Pljevlja Local Community "Golubinja", appealed to the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism against the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency, which gave the company "Crnagoraput" consent to the Elaboration of the environmental impact assessment of the construction of an asphalt plant in the settlement of Potrlica.
The settlement of Potrlica and the location where the asphalt base is planned to be built belong to that local community.
Knežević, asks the Ministry to cancel the Agency's decision and return it for reconsideration.
"Starting from the main and basic fact that for the construction of any facility, even a temporary one, Urban-Technical Conditions (UTU) are necessary, they are also necessary when assessing the impact on the environment and on the basis of these it is determined whether it is necessary or it is not that an environmental impact assessment is carried out for a specific construction project in accordance with the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment. The holder of the project "Crnagoraput" from Podgorica submitted to the UTA for the preparation of technical documentation for the reconstruction of the main road M-8 Gradac-Pljevlja - the border with Serbia, in accordance with the provisions of the Spatial Plan of Montenegro until 2020 and the guidelines of the Spatial-Urban Plan of the Municipality of Pljevlja, no. 0503-1702/9 dated August 22.08.2014, XNUMX. year, in which there is no plan to install an asphalt base even within the construction site, let alone as a temporary facility", stated Knežević in his complaint to the Ministry.
That fact, Knežević states, was enough to not consider the request for an assessment of the impact of the asphalt base on the environment.
"Another important fact is that the location where the asphalt base is planned is located in the exploitation area of the Coal Mine and is not in accordance with the Amendments and Supplements to the PUP of the Municipality of Pljevlja. The area planned for the asphalt base is the area for which the Coal Mine is obliged to recultivate and return to an approximately natural state after the end of exploitation, and not to rent it out and expose the said area to further devastation with the introduction of new polluters and other legal entities onto its surfaces. for which he is obliged to recultivate them. I believe that these two facts are enough to refute the Agency's decision and to return it for reconsideration, because new pollutants in the Pljevlja basin are not desirable due to the already overloaded environment by existing polluters, which is confirmed by regular air quality monitoring in Pljevlja by the same Agency for environmental protection", stated Knežević in the complaint.
The Agency gave its consent to the Elaboration of the environmental impact assessment of the asphalt base, which would be located only a few kilometers from the city center. This created the conditions for that company to build a temporary asphalt base, and the most polluted city in the country gets another polluter.
"The agency ordered measures that the company 'Crnagoraput' must comply with, knowing what the environmental situation is in Pljevlja. We will strive for the environmental inspection to be a regular guest in Pljevlje and to control the operation of the plant," Agency director Milan Gazdić told "Vijesta" earlier.
He said that one of the reasons why the Commission decided to give its consent is that the works on the construction of the road are taking a long time and they want it to be finished as soon as possible, because huge pollution is created from the dust that rises during the execution of the works.
When asked whether another location could have been chosen, Gazdić said that the Commission took care to choose an already devastated area, such as the location in Potrlica.
The Agency gave its consent, although earlier the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism announced that the construction of an asphalt base in Potrlica has no legal basis because that location does not exist in the plan of temporary facilities of the Municipality.
"The asphalt base, whose construction is planned at a location about three kilometers as the crow flies from the city center, in the Potrlica settlement, primarily does not exist in the Plan of Temporary Facilities of Pljevlja, and therefore there is no legal basis for it to be built at the mentioned location. Another problem of asphalt base construction is ecological. The position of the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism is close to the demands of the locals. The elaboration of the study on environmental impact assessment, which is being carried out by the Environmental Protection Agency, is underway, and we should see what the public hearing will show," the Ministry announced at the time.
The Ministry points out that the asphalt base, which should be built for the reconstruction of the road Gradac-Pljevlja-Mihajlovica, to the border with Serbia, is necessary, but "it is also necessary to consider alternative locations where this asphalt base could be placed ".
"The location for the construction of the asphalt base in Pljevlje must be carefully determined in accordance with the need to cause the least possible damage to the health of citizens and the environment," said the Ministry.
The location, where the plant will be installed, is the property of the coal mine, with which the land lease agreement was signed.
Residents of the Potrlica settlement in Pljevlja called on the Government of Montenegro, the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism and the Environmental Protection Agency to prohibit the construction of a temporary asphalt base near their houses.
"The most dangerous possible location was chosen for this ecologically disastrous project. According to the report, it is about 500 meters as the crow flies from the first houses, and about three kilometers from the city center. How this location is dangerously close to people is best shown by the fact that the locations of asphalt bases, which are currently operating in our country, are five to nine kilometers away from the nearest settlement or city. In the settlement of Potrlica, there are over a hundred houses where almost 500 inhabitants live, of which a significant number are children", said the locals.
For them, it is incomprehensible that the "decade-long polluter of the environment Pljevlja Coal Mine" is bringing another polluter to its land based on a lease contract, and they called on the authorities in the Municipality of Pljevlja to actively get involved in solving this problem.
They plan not to work for more than a year
The Agency clarified that it was determined that the Elaborate was prepared in accordance with the law and that it contains defined measures for preventing, reducing or eliminating harmful effects on the environment.
The director of the Agency, Milan Gazdić, previously told "Vijesta" that the consent was given by the Commission, which was formed in January 2021, before he became the head of that institution.
"The opinion of the Commission was that at this moment it is best to give permission for the installation of a temporary asphalt base that would be closed within 30 days from the end of the works on the Gradac-Pljevlja-Mihajlovica road," Gazdić said.
He believes that the asphalt base will not work for more than a year.
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