This year, as in 2017 and 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued decisions ordering the company "WEG kolektor" doo from Berane to implement preventive and remediation measures, in order to prevent, or eliminate, damage and immediate danger of damage to human health and the environment, resulting from the emission of particulate dust from the red mud pool, industrial waste of the former Aluminum Plant Podgorica, pool A and pool B. "WEG kolektor" ignored this decision and did not implement the measures ordered by the aforementioned decisions.
The EPA notes that the owner of the red mud pond has continuously failed to comply with the issued decisions, thereby directly endangering human health and property, despite the established immediate danger from dust emissions and several years of warnings from the environmental inspection.
The Agency has repeatedly issued decisions on the implementation of urgent measures to eliminate the damage, and initiated proceedings to determine liability, as well as criminal charges, but the owner has persistently continued to ignore all measures and obligations.
The Agency emphasizes that they could not influence the further course of the procedure, but the EPA continued to take all necessary actions, including inspection supervision, issuing new decisions, informing the prosecutor's office and informing the Government of Montenegro about the failure to implement remediation, the irresponsible behavior of the owner, and the harmful consequences for the environment and public health.
Over the past years, the EPA emphasizes, the Ministry has organized several meetings with the relevant institutions to discuss issues related to the condition of the red mud basin, as well as to define further steps in the process. What still represents the biggest problem is precisely the resolution of property and legal relations (between the WEG collector, Uniprom, and the Capital City of Podgorica).
They note that one of the best ways to currently address the ecological problem of the red mud basin is to continue implementing the “Industrial Waste Management and Cleanup” project in cooperation with the World Bank.
The Environmental Protection Agency believes that resolving disputed property and legal relations would create a prerequisite for the KAP red mud pool reconstruction project, for which an environmental permit was issued on January 11, 2023, to be implemented and thus ensure the implementation of both short-term measures (dewatering the red mud pool as soon as possible) and long-term measures (implementation of reconstruction measures in accordance with the project that provides for the complete isolation of the deposited toxic material with a waterproofing layer (with humus) in order to restore the flora and then the fauna of the site).
The Agency emphasizes that any further ignoring of established legal obligations will be considered a gross violation of environmental and legal regulations, for which the owner will bear full responsibility before the competent authorities.
Vujisić: We need to start remediation as soon as possible
I believe that the property and legal issues, which currently prevent the remediation of the red mud basin, will be resolved in an irregular period, because the remediation must begin as soon as possible, for the health of citizens and due to the closing of Chapter 27 and entry into the EU, says environmental activist Vuk Vujisić.
The ODT, Vujisić reminds, has now formed a specialized operational team to combat eco-crime and believes that, in line with these reforms, issues such as the red mud basin will be in focus, but that above all, the executive branch will move towards remediation with the support of international financial institutions and international partners.
"I believe that the important question is how the privatization of one of the largest ecological black spots occurred, and that is a question for review and investigation, as well as how we came to the point where the maintenance and spraying systems for this pool are not functioning," Vujisić points out.
He warns that the problem of the Red Mud Basin must be resolved through rehabilitation as early as next year, because there are already rehabilitation studies that need to be monitored.
"There are several ways to remediate a red mud pool. The most important thing is that the remediation is carried out as soon as possible for the benefit of the environment and citizens from the surrounding settlements, who have unfortunately been poisoned for decades, and that the remediation process does not pose a danger to the environment, and the profits of a private individual should absolutely be left aside because this is a matter of national and public interest," emphasizes Vuk Vujisić.
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