Although the Ministry of Ecology and Spatial Planning announced two years ago the solution to the problem of wastewater from the former mines of Suplja Stijene in Šuli near Pljevlja, nothing has been done to date to stop further pollution of Mjedničko Potok and the Ćehotina River into which it flows.
Ministerial Ana Novaković Đurović she ignored the questions of "Vijesti" that were sent to her more than 20 days ago, so the public was deprived of information regarding whether the Ministry she headed had taken or would take some measures to solve the problem of pollution of the Ćehotina river from Mjednica stream, one of the most polluted streams in Montenegro.
"Vijesti" remained without an answer to the question of whether a remediation project has been carried out, that is, whether there is a proposal on how to solve the issue of pollution of Ćehotina with water from the Mjedničko potok, which is formed from the water coming out of the abandoned mine shafts of the former mine. Hollow rock.
While he was at the head of the Ministry Ratko Mitrović it was announced that in cooperation with the companies "Gradir Montenegro" and "Tara Resources", as well as the Center for Ecotoxicological Testing, the Ministry of Ecology launched a project to solve the problem of mine water in the area of the Šuplja stijena mine.
"With the help of BeinnAnOr Exploration Ltd's expert consultant, Joe Crummy, a conceptual solution was designed that can lead to an improvement in the quality of mine water in a sustainable and economical way, which, in addition to affecting the water quality of the Ćehotina River, also affects the quality of the surrounding land, which is in contact with them. For the purposes of designing a water treatment system, it is necessary to conduct an experiment during which various parameters, conditions and structural elements will be tested in order to obtain the data necessary for planning and designing a full-scale system, which should lead to a permanent solution to this problem. In this regard, the preparatory phase of the experiment at CETI began today. The entire experiment will be monitored by the expert team of the Center for Ecotoxicological Research, while the measurement of all parameters will be performed in the specialized laboratories of this institution, which functions in the system of the state ecological cluster," the Ministry of Ecology announced in early September 2021.
At the end of October, Mitrović clarified that during the experiment, acidic mine waters with a high metal content coming out of the old shafts in Šuplja stjeni are passed through various fractions of limestone, and in this way the neutralization process is checked. Mitrović then said that, if the experiment proves to be effective in laboratory conditions, it will also be conducted in Šuplja stjeni. The public is not aware of the results of the experiment.
MITROVIĆ: SOLVE THE PROBLEM URGENTLY
Executive Director of NGO "Breznica" Milorad Mitrovic says that the Mjedenički stream is the biggest and most dangerous polluter of the Ćehotina river.
"The stream has caused problems in the past due to the mines or the Šuplja stijena mine, but in recent years, since surface production was restarted, where 'Gradir Montenegro' captured over 50 mountain springs and brought them to the facility where it performs washing and flotation of the ore using dangerous reagents for the separation of ore, without any treatment it goes to Mjedenički potok and continues to the river Ćehotina. On countless occasions we visited that stream and the place where all that chemical waste comes out. A small part comes out of the former two shafts from when the pit exploitation was done earlier. Gradir's concession expires this year, and after that they will get a new concession, or someone else will get it," Mitrović said.
He pointed out that the problem of the Mjedenica stream must be solved urgently.
"I don't know how much it would all cost, but a plant for purifying the mine's waste water must be built," Mitrović said.
One gets the impression, points out Mitrović, that Montenegro, which is famous for being the first ecological country in the world, has no mechanisms to force polluters to reduce their pollution to the legally prescribed limits.
"Mjednički 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 probability that larger negative impacts will occur when there is a larger spill of water from pits that have probably collapsed and in which there are underground ponds, so when the internal dams are breached, there will be a very strong negative impact on the Ćehotina River due to the large amounts of water of poor chemistry that on occasion, and through Mjednički potok, it flows into this river", it is written in the report made a few years ago by CETI experts on the state of the environmental segments in the vicinity of the lead and zinc mine "Šuplja stijena" in the mining settlement of Šula and the state of the ecosystem of Mjednički potok .
The tests were carried out at the request of the company "Gradir Montenegro", which is the owner of "Suplje stijene".
The "Šuplja stijena" mine previously denied several times that they are polluting Mjednički potok, claiming that the pollution comes from the abandoned pits of the former mine.
NO LIFE
Mjednički stream, a left tributary of the Ćehotina river, is about seven kilometers long. Its mouth is only a few kilometers from the Bosnian border.
It is formed from the water coming out of the abandoned mine shafts of the former "Šuplja stijena" mine.
Experts determined a few years ago that Mjednički potok is completely devoid of visible life, above and after the ore flotation plant. They also assessed that its impact on the Ćehotina river is worrisome. The stream is completely devoid of visible life.
Five species of fish were detected at the location 150 meters upstream from the mouth of the Mjednički Potok into the Ćehotina River, and only two at 200 meters downstream from the mouth. This decline can also be seen at the position of Tatarovina, a few kilometers away from the mouth, which indicates a constant and long-term influence of the waters from the Mjedničko potok.
Experts especially noticed the absence of pech, which is a bottom fish, downstream from the mouth. This fish, they claim, is sensitive to chemical changes in the composition of river water. Experts believe that the problem lies in the chemical composition of Mjednica stream, which at all test locations is "burdened with cadmium, lead, arsenic, copper and zinc content above the level that represents a danger to the water ecosystem".
Tests have shown that the content of zinc in the sediment of Ćehotina upstream from the mouth of the Mjednički potok is one hundred times lower than the content of that metal in the Mjednički potok.
The color of the stream before the flotation plant is yellowish until below the transshipment plateau, where it acquires a milky color that remains up to a kilometer below it, and it is the same milky color at the mouth of the Ćehotina river.
Pollution also reaches Bosnia
The well-known Pljeval ecologist points out that water pollution from the Mjednica stream has a cross-border negative impact, because via the Mjednica stream and the Ćehotina river, Montenegro exports pollution to another neighboring country, which potentially represents a big problem, especially if you consider that the city of Goražde is partly supplied with water from of the river Drina.
"This pollution directly violates the Expo Convention. Foča takes water from arterial wells that are directly connected to the Ćehotina river, and Goražde uses water for its water supply from the Drina. They process that water only mechanically. This city is known for the largest number of abdominal tumors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and their experts believe that this is due to the poor quality of the water," Mitrović said.
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