While some residents of the Zeta settlement of Botun are publicly opposing the construction of a wastewater treatment plant (collector), claiming that the red mud pools near the Aluminum Plant (KAP) are among the last on their list of priorities, their neighbors from the village of Srpska claim that their lives are "impossible".
Shortly after the representative of the people of Botunja Vesko Kazic stated on TV "Vijesti" last month that the rehabilitation of the red mud pool "is not option B, but S", Srpska said that this is a decades-old pollution and a problem that "kills citizens, animals and plants".
In a letter recently sent from Republika Srpska to the Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, locals claim that life in the village "has long since become impossible."
"It takes hundreds of years for the land to return to its original state... We do not want political showdowns. This issue concerns people's lives and health, not politics. We demand that the state finally get involved and solve this decades-old problem," the letter reads.
Although the main polluter of the Aluminum Plant, the Glinica plant, ceased operations almost two decades ago, people in Srpska are on edge even over the slightest breeze, as they fear that the wind will carry red dust from nearby red mud pools.
The land has been completely destroyed and has become unusable for agriculture, and the permanent covering of red dust seems incredible in a country that is striving to join the EU, according to the findings of the Center for Ecotoxicological Research.
In addition to the inhabitants of Botun and Srpska, with sediments of red mud from the red mud pool, they also live in Ljajkovići.
They have not relied on farming and agriculture for years, because many soil analyses show that part of the soil in the Zeta-Skadar Plain is unusable due to pollution.
Red mud is a waste product produced during the production of alumina from bauxite ore. The alumina plant of the former KAP was closed in 2009, and the company went bankrupt in 2013.
The KAP pools, which contain more than seven million tons of red mud, were purchased by a Berane company a few years ago, and residents of the surrounding villages claim that they are not maintained properly, especially in the summer, when even the slightest wind spreads toxic dust throughout the surrounding villages...
The owner of the red mud pool is the Berane-based company "Weg kolektor", which is registered at Lazar JevrićThey bought the pool seven years ago from the Tivat-based company “Politropus Alternativa” owned by a Ukrainian citizen. Roman Denkovic, who purchased it from the bankruptcy administration of KAP in 2014, with the intention of processing rare metals.
Everyone promises, no one solves.
The “Vijesti” team visited the villages of Zeta in the vicinity of KAP in the middle of the week. First, we passed by the lonely, abandoned houses, overgrown with bushes, in Botun. These families moved out because of the pollution, and after the Government bought their properties and buildings more than two decades ago. Some of the residents of Botun were not compensated at the time, so they remained on their properties. Today, they talk less about the problem of red mud, because, as they claim, a bigger problem has arisen - the possible construction of a wastewater treatment plant, the technology of which, in their opinion, would further endanger the health of the residents.
What happened to the Aluminum Plant is a disaster. We are fighting to survive, I don't know what else to tell you. Life is very difficult for us here. A few days ago, when the wind was blowing, you could wipe the red dust off the windows, everything, says Miljan Anđelić
While the residents of Srpska openly and without hesitation talk about their problems with the red mud pools with anyone who wants to hear them, some of the residents of neighboring Ljajkovići were unwilling to talk to reporters from "Vijesti".
Although they quietly admit that, especially during the summer, they wash the red dust off vegetables, but also clean it off facades, windows, and furniture, they don't want to talk about it officially. They shift the responsibility onto political entities, not wanting to comment on the fact that pools of mud endanger the lives of their closest neighbors.
Incidents of red mud spilling outside the boundaries of the pool also occurred while the Aluminum Plant was operating. At that time, they were resolved by increasing the embankment around the pool, as well as installing sprinklers that sprayed the red mud dust, thus preventing or reducing the possibility of it being blown away by the wind.
One of the residents of Srpska told reporters at "Vijesti" that this problem is several decades old. Miljan Andjelic.
Although he jokingly calls himself "a settler who has only lived in Republika Srpska for half a century," he notes that the red mud problem makes it impossible for him to engage in agriculture, and sometimes even to provide for his basic necessities.
"What happened to the Aluminum Plant is a disaster. We are fighting to survive, I don't know what else to tell you. Life is very difficult for us here. A few days ago, when the wind was blowing, you could wipe the red dust off the windows, everything," Anđelić tells "Vijesti".
He also notes that many of his neighbors complain about the infertility and pollution of the land in that part of the plain, but says that he "has not done any additional analysis":
"Although I have a problem with the land myself. It's hard to live here."
Anđelić emphasizes that he understands the feelings of the people of Botunja who oppose the construction of a collector in that town.
He also adds that the mayor of Podgorica Saša Mujović "found in unpicked grapes because of promises made to the residents of that settlement at the beginning of the year."
"The people of Botunja have the right to protest about the collector. First, KAP did them great harm, which caused some of them to move out of their places. Everything is poisoned. Every government gives us empty promises. I have to tell you the truth, all credit to the government, but they promise us in vain," said Anđelić.
When the wind blows...
Local resident and former employee of the Aluminum Plant Uros Vukasinovic He emphasized that it is difficult to live in Republika Srpska.
The first "real" problems, he told "Vijesti", arose with the construction of the second pool, "that is, around 1978."
"Red mud pools are our main and fundamental problems. The release of various invisible particles is problematic for us. The problems first started to be registered in ruminants. Then they shifted to agricultural production, which was sinking and could not succeed. I have land that I inherited, and I also bought some. People used to live from agriculture. Now that's gone. There simply were no conditions for progress," he said.
Soil analyses, he points out, have shown that it is "completely destroyed" because it contains "heavy and dangerous harmful substances."
This is also stated in the report of the Center for Ecotoxicological Testing from November 2020. The document states that the sample of Vukašinović's agricultural land "does not meet the requirements of the Regulation on Permitted Quantities of Hazardous and Harmful Substances."
"... Due to the increased content of chromium, nickel, fluorine, boron and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The land has been completely destroyed and has become unusable for agriculture, and the permanent red dust covering it seems incredible in a country that is striving to join the EU," the document states.
Vukašinović emphasizes that the biggest problem is the gusts of wind that "blow red dust" at them.
He also reminds that several decades ago, in agreement with the authorities, a commission was formed with the task of studying the impact of KAP on the environment.
"However, that commission never met. It did not even form a report on the impact of KAP on Podgorica and the surrounding area. I am one of those who have bone aluminosis. I have been declared disabled. I am only alive because the disease does not spread," he said.
Vukašinović said that several residents of Srpska had filed a lawsuit against the former KAP, but that those processes had been suspended in the meantime.
He also said that he understands the concerns of the people of Botunja, but emphasizes that he is "sorry that the red mud pool is not talked about enough."
"There was an incident with a swimming pool in Hungary, which caused great chaos. The people of Botunja were probably afraid that the same thing would happen here. They built 'defensive walls' that they filled in with additional soil. They also measured the terrain. If the pool were to collapse, they estimated, 16 families would be at risk. That's why they moved them out. Some of them are now satisfied. That's where the story ends," said Vukašinović, adding that "the collector is essential."
When asked whether he believes the problem with the red mud pools will be solved, Vukašinović is not optimistic. He believes that "there simply was no good will to solve the problem in time."
"The state did not show it. Why the state did not announce a tender for the rehabilitation, we do not know. KAP has since become privately owned. We live here as we have to. So far, no government representatives have visited us. The last activity that we know of regarding the rehabilitation of the pool was 20 years ago. We want this problem to be solved in the right way," Vukašinović points out.
Half a century of one problem and fear of another
The former industrial giant - KAP, and its red mud pools, polluted the environment, which was the reason for the Government and its commissions to expropriate the land of a double-digit number of residents and property owners in the hamlet of Velji brijeg - Botun in the early 2000s. According to Government data, an area of about 90.000 square meters was expropriated.
This, however, did not solve the problem of pollution from the red mud pool. The people of Botunja spoke about it sporadically, and the government's decades-long ignorant attitude towards such a polluter led to distrust in the project to build a wastewater treatment plant (collector) on the plots of land of the Capital City in this village in Zeta.
Recently, while appearing on the TV Vijesti show "Nedjelja u retrovizoru", a representative of the Botuni residents, Vesko Kažić, said that "the collector issue is by far the most important." He said that at the moment the priority is not to build a collector, and when asked whether the rehabilitation of the red mud basin is the second, or rather a "B" request, Kažić replied:
"The red mud pool has been there for 55 years... It's not under 'B', it's under 'Š'," he said.
Since the construction of the collector, depending on the position of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property regarding Podgorica's request for a construction permit, could begin by the end of the year, the people of Botunja are more vocal in their fight against that facility than against the decades-old polluter - the red mud pool.
While Podgorica is threatened with an ecological disaster due to an outdated plant located in the most populated area of the city and treating wastewater for up to 55.000 people, which represents a quarter of Podgorica's population, it is also threatened with financial collapse - it will pay 100 million in sanctions, based on numerous signed contracts, if work on the new collector does not begin by the end of the year. Failure to resolve the wastewater issue may also jeopardize the closure of Chapter 27 (environmental protection), and thus slow down the country's path towards membership in the European Union.
Decades of unfulfilled promises, as well as the difficult life in the polluted zone, have led the people of Botunja to openly oppose the project and loudly say - they will not allow the construction of the collector at the cost of their lives.
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