Parliament Committee to hold Gospić session on hazardous waste dumping

The Croatian Parliament's Environment and Nature Conservation Committee will hold a session in Gospić on August 14 to address the illegal dumping of hazardous waste and its potential impact on the environment and public health.

Committee Chair Dušica Radojčić of the far-left Možemo! party has called the session, at which Ministers Marija Vučković and Irena Hrstić are expected to report on the environmental and health risks and present the government's plans for dealing with the contamination.

The committee is also expected to vote on a proposal to hold a public hearing on August 18, with Lika-Senj County Prefect Ernest Petry and Gospić Mayor Darko Milinović invited to attend.

Radojčić said the waste had remained at the site for a year and a half without a clear solution.

"A year and a half later and the waste is still there and we have no idea how the problem will be resolved. For this reason, Environment Minister Marija Vučković will be in attendance. Also, Health Minister Irena Hrstić has been invited because we need to know precisely what the health risks are. Furthermore, how can we stop further contamination?" said Radojčić.

She stressed that the fact that no contamination has been detected in Gospić's water supply does not eliminate concerns about pollution downstream.

"The fact that the water in the Gospić waterworks has not been contaminated doesn't change the fact that contamination has been detected downstream, and we know that Senj, Rab and Pag use the water downstream," she said.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has said the government will not succumb to what he called "media pressure" to implement a quick solution. He has insisted that the proper procedure must be followed and that the process will be carried out transparently.

However, Ivan Penava, president of the ruling coalition partner Homeland Movement, has called for the government to declare an "ecological catastrophe," rather than merely an "incident," and then enter into negotiations without a public tender.

President Zoran Milanović has meanwhile called on the government to immediately begin cleaning up the hazardous waste. Milanović has also demanded answers as to why no one has been held accountable and why the competent institutions allowed the dumping to occur in the first place.

Mihael Zmajlović SDP MP and Environment Committee member Mihael Zmajlović has accused the government of responsibility for what he described as an ecological disaster, saying Croatia has become a "hotbed for crimes against nature throughout Europe."

Zmajlović called for the establishment of a crisis management team bringing together experts and relevant institutions.

"Set up a crisis management team made up of all the top experts: hydrogeologists, geotechnicians, environmental protection engineers, relevant state bodies responsible for coordinating such a cleanup effort, as well as representatives of civil associations," said Zmajlović.

He added that the situation pointed to broader shortcomings in Croatia's environmental oversight.

"This kind of thing only happens in countries that have bad regulation and non-existant monitoring. Countries in which criminals know they won't get caught and where fines are laughable if they are even held accountable," he said.

Meanwhile, SDP President Siniša Hajdaš Dončić has joined MP Zvonimir Troskot, whose Most party first brought the situation to public attention, in calling for the government to be impeached over the Gospić ecological disaster and what they say is the endangerment of citizens' health.