A sinkhole that "sucked up" slag and wastewater at the flotation landfill of the Šuplja stijena lead and zinc mine near Pljevlja a few days ago led to an environmental incident, and the wastewater ended up in the Badanj spring, whose waters flow into the Ćehotina.
The damage, the editorial office was told, will be determined by inspectors from the Water Inspectorate, who were only informed about the incident yesterday.
The incident became known when the SRK "Lipljen" fish protection service came into possession of photographs and recordings, which confirm the justification of the suspicion that this was a potentially major damage caused to the environment by the spillage of wastewater full of chemicals.
In the photograph provided to "Vijesti", in the middle of the landfill, which is covered with geotextile, a hole can be seen, through which water from the landfill and a certain amount of slag have flowed.
The fish protection service also provided "Vijesti" with photographs of the Badanj spring in the village of Jelice below the Šuplja stijena mine, which show that the water is cloudy.
Director of the Šuplja stijena mine in Šuli Petar Vranes He confirmed that a few days ago, the ground beneath the landfill subsided in a small area, causing water to flow.
He said that the inspectorate, which carries out inspection supervision, is aware of everything.
He claims that they did not contribute to or could not have influenced the opening of the soil under the landfill and that such cracks had occurred in Šuli before.
"I responsibly claim that the landfill was built in accordance with all regulations governing this area. The terrain was rolled and a foil was placed. What happened will be determined by the authorities, but I claim that we did not influence anything and could not influence anything to prevent the ground from subsiding under the landfill and creating an opening through which water flowed," said Vranes.
He said that grayish-colored water subsequently appeared in the Bezdan spring and that authorities would determine whether it came from the landfill.
Water inspector Adis Krcic He told "Vijesti" that he was not aware of the incident that occurred at the Šuplja stijena Mine.
"No, I'm not familiar with it. I'll see what happens," Krcić said briefly.
The Šuplja stijena mine has been linked for years to the pollution of the Mjednički stream, a left tributary of the Ćehotina river. The Mjednički stream has a constant negative impact on the Ćehotina river, which is reflected in changes in fish communities and organisms on the bottom of the watercourse, as far as five kilometers downstream from the mouth.
This was previously stated by experts from the Center for Ecotoxicological Testing (CETI) in a report on the state of environmental segments in the vicinity of the Šupja stijena Lead and Zinc Mine in the mining settlement of Šula and the state of the Mjednički stream ecosystem.
"The Mednički stream has a constant negative impact on the Ćehotina River because it is formed from water that comes out of abandoned mine shafts. There is a possibility that even greater negative impacts will occur when there is a large outflow of water from pits that are probably collapsed and in which there are underground lakes, so when internal dams break, there is a very strong negative impact on the Ćehotina River due to large quantities of water with poor chemistry that flow into this river through the Mednički stream," the report, which "Vijesti" previously published, states.
It is also noted that Mjednički potok is completely devoid of visible life, above and after the ore flotation plant.
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