In the area of the asphalt base of the Podgorica company "Roads", in the settlement of Cijevna, in Zeta, waste was deposited, which the employees, unofficially, claim is grit, which no one else wanted to accept, and which was not properly disposed of.
"Roads" did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" yesterday, while the Environmental Protection Agency emphasized that it was "hazardous waste".
The Center for Ecotoxicological Testing (CETI) told the newsroom that they had no request for an analysis of the waste deposited at Cijevna, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told "Vijesta" that they found that "Roads" had documentation and an analysis, which shows that it is "non-hazardous waste", and that CETI did that analysis before depositing it.
Information about waste disposal in the vicinity of the asphalt base "Puteva", in the settlement of Cijevna, was communicated to the newsroom, after "Vijesti" published the announcement of the residents of the Nikšić settlements of Straševina and Kličevo that they would organize a protest, because in Straševina, on private and state land , deposits waste, which they claim is grit brought from Bijela.
CETI previously announced that it was a non-hazardous material, but the residents of the settlement in Nikšić demand that it be moved anyway, and that it be determined how it got there and on whose orders.
"Vijesti" was then unofficially informed that "200 cubic meters of grit" had been deposited in the asphalt base of "Roads" in Cijevna, and that the institutions had been informed about everything.
From "Roads", of which he is the leader Rados Zecevic, did not answer the editorial questions yesterday.
"Vijesti" was unofficially told by that company that the disputed material arrived a month and a half ago, that it should not have been delayed as it is.
"It should be in bags. It has been scattered like this with us for a month and a half, we don't know its harmful consequences, especially because there is a river and a settlement nearby. No one wanted to accept that waste, we were told that they refused to dispose of it in Croatia and some other countries, allegedly in Africa. The landlords must have received a one- or two-bedroom apartment for delaying this," the interlocutors of "Vijesti" stated in an unofficial interview.
As they added, they were also told that the deposited material would be used, "as if it were to be added to some mixture, but nothing of the sort."
"It is not just grit, but a mixture of several materials," they said.
In response to the "News", the Center for Ecotoxicological Testing said that they analyzed only the material that was deposited on the territory of the municipality of Nikšić.
"At the request of the competent state authorities for the environment, CETI carried out sampling and classification of the material deposited at the Straševina location. Regarding your query... we inform you that CETI had no other requests for testing waste grit or similar material from some other location in Montenegro, so we are therefore not aware of whether there are other locations where waste grit was deposited. As for the waste grit from the location of Straševina, Nikšić, as you already know, based on the analyzes performed, it is classified as non-hazardous waste", they told "Vijesta".
Residents of the Nikšić settlements of Straševina and Kličevo held a warning protest at the beginning of August, and two days ago they started the protest by blocking the Nikšić-Podgorica highway near the Budoš tunnel. As they said earlier, the disputed material was deposited on private properties and land managed by the Railway Infrastructure of Montenegro, in Straševina, as well as on land under Trebjes, which, they said, is owned by the Municipality of Nikšić.
The Directorate for Inspection Affairs, "Vijesti" announced earlier, made a decision that the company "MM System", which deposited the disputed material, should move it to another location, also in Nikšić, in accordance with the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency on waste disposal .
At the request of the competent state authorities for the environment, CETI carried out the sampling and classification of the material deposited at the Straševina location. Regarding your inquiry... we inform you that CETI had no other requests for the examination of waste grit or similar material from another location in Montenegro, so we are therefore not aware of whether there are other locations where waste grit was deposited. As for the waste grit from the location of Straševina, Nikšić, as you are already aware, it is classified as non-hazardous waste based on the analyzes carried out", said CETI.
Milan Nikcevic said on behalf of the locals that they are against such a solution, because they do not want "waste from Nikšić to be moved to Nikšić".
The Center for Ecotoxicological Testing clarified what "hazardous" means, and what waste characterized as "non-hazardous" means:
"Hazardous waste is waste that, due to its origin, composition or concentration of hazardous substances, can cause danger to the environment and human health, i.e. waste that contains elements or compounds that exhibit one or more of the following dangerous properties: explosive, oxidizing, flammable, irritating- skin irritation and eye damage, specific target organ toxicity (STCO)/aspiration toxicity, acute toxicity, carcinogenic, corrosive, infectious, toxic for reproduction, mutagenic, release of acute toxic gas, sensitizing, ecotoxic. Non-hazardous waste is waste that does not have any of the characteristics of hazardous waste in terms of its composition and properties".
The remediation project in the former Bijela Shipyard began in mid-2018, and the work was entrusted to the French company "Valgo". The project provided for the final rehabilitation and remediation of four "ecological black spots", including the Bijela Shipyard. The project was financed by the World Bank in the amount of 23 million euros.
As announced by the Environmental Protection Agency at the beginning of 2022, a ship with the last quantities of grit from Bijela set sail for the landfill in Seville, Spain.
The media previously wrote about the export of grit from Tivat's "Porto Montenegro" to Ukraine, for which CETI, as the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) announced at the time, determined that it was a non-hazardous type of waste.
"Valgo Montenegro", a daughter of the French company, was hired for both jobs - rehabilitation and freeing of Montenegro from hazardous waste, grit from the "Bijela" shipyard, and waste from Tivat's "Porto Montenegro", which the institutions also announced was not toxic. Valgo". As they announced at the time, those jobs were implemented through special contracts.
Bonus video:
