TEHNOPUT'S ASPHALT BASE SPARKS ENVIRONMENTAL ALARM: INSTITUTIONS ACCUSED OF FAILING TO PROTECT BOLJE SESTRE WATER SOURCE

The Environmental Protection Agency approved the Environmental Impact Assessment Report for Tehnoput, which relies on data up to seven years old. Meanwhile, companies actively damaging the Cijevna and Morača rivers continue operations without valid water permits

Predrag NIKOLIĆ/Andrea PERIŠIĆ

The residents of Donja Cijevna and Mahala are exposed to constant noise and air pollution caused by asphalt, sand particles, and various harmful substances. Some live fifty meters away from as many as three asphalt production plants.

All of this is happening on the banks of the Cijevna River, which is primarily protected by law and designated a natural monument. Along with the Morača River, it feeds the endangered Bolje Sestre water source, listed by UNESCO as one of the world's 150 most essential karst springs. Directly across from the asphalt plants, on the opposite riverbank, lie extensive Plantaže vineyards and fields of medicinal herbs and sandy everlasting, all of which are also at risk from harmful airborne particles.

Along the riverbank, several companies operate bases equipped with complete machinery, crushers, and rolling stock, including Putevi, Bemax, Genex, and Tehnoput. The latter recently obtained approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its Environmental Impact Assessment and work permit. According to research by the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG), however, the assessment relies on data up to seven years old, much of which is irrelevant to the specific location.

In response to CIN-CG, the EPA emphasized that its approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment is just one of many documents Tehnoput requires to carry out its operations. They also noted that if the approval had been denied, the Agency could have faced a lawsuit and potential compensation claims from the company. "We could find no legal grounds to withhold consent for the assessment," the Agency stated.

Saša Aćimić's Tehnoput company has operated concrete production and gravel extraction activities on state-owned land. Since 2012, it has failed to obtain a building permit for its facilities. In January 2023, the construction inspection and the police sealed Tehnoput's asphalt base on the Cijevna River. However, the seal was quickly removed, and illegal activities resumed. The prosecution intervened, leading to Aćimić's arrest, but he was soon released to face the charges in court.

When the Montenegro Petrol plant was demolished in February 2023, residents and the public hoped it marked the end of gravel theft and restoring order to the area. However, the recent issuance of environmental approval for Tehnoput suggests that the situation is not moving in that direction.

Saša Bošković, a resident of Donja Cijevna, told CIN-CG, "We thought the issue was resolved, but it was all a farce. The bases never stopped operating, from six in the morning until four in the afternoon. The Putevi base was a primitive operation, but a new one was installed a year and a half ago and began functioning without a water permit or proper authorization. Gravel theft continues, and now it's carried out by those with political backing or strong family connections..."

The dramatic decline in the yield of the Bolje Sestre spring most clearly illustrates the devastating impact of illegal gravel extraction. In 2010, when it was selected as the primary source for supplying the Montenegrin coast, its output was 2,600 liters per second. By 2020, however, this had plummeted to nearly eight times less, just 334 liters per second. In 2021 and 2022, the yield further decreased to 265 liters per second. However, following some state interventions, the yield saw a notable recovery in 2023, rising to 677 liters per second, an increase of two and a half times.

The Regional Waterworks—Montenegrin Coast (Vodovod) explained to CIN-CG that efforts to halt the illegal extraction of gravel and sand until early 2023 had not produced the desired results, with the yield continuously decreasing. They reported that the Morača riverbed in the II sanitary protection zone had been lowered below the permitted 10 meters above sea level, with some areas dropping even below three meters.

Despite this, the Waterworks remain hopeful that the additional water supply contracted from the Bolje Sestre spring will meet the demands for the upcoming summer tourist season. "The construction of the sand foundation is expected to increase the spring's yield by an additional 50 to 70 liters per second. Moreover, the ongoing construction of a water purification filter plant aims to provide an extra 100 liters per second," the Waterworks Agency stated.

Not a Single Company Holds Water Permits

All residents interviewed by CIN-CG claim that none of the companies managing the asphalt plants have received water permits from the Water Administration, which confirmed this.

"We have not issued water permits for the asphalt plants on Cijevna. Under the Water Law, investors are not required to obtain a water permit before receiving the Environmental Impact Assessment approval. However, the law is clear: a use permit cannot be granted for any facility or structure without a prior water permit," the Administration stated.

The Agency emphasizes that this issue has been blown out of proportion, as the companies cannot legally operate without a water permit. Despite this, all these companies continue to operate smoothly, even though they lack the necessary water licenses.

According to the Water Law, an asphalt plant is considered a facility that could significantly impact water pollution and must meet strict criteria to obtain a water permit. These criteria include methods of operation, remediation measures, assessments of impacts on aquatic life and surrounding springs, records of extracted materials, and many other conditions.

This raises the question of how these companies can continue operating without impediment and receive approval from state institutions, even though in February 2023, the Government of Montenegro adopted a decision to urgently implement land remediation measures in the Bolje Sestre water source catchment area, along the Morača and Cijevna rivers, due to an ecological disaster. The Government also tasked the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning, and Urbanism (MPPUDI) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with removing and demolishing buildings in this area.

CIN-CG sent inquiries to the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism, and State Property (MPPUDI) asking how many facilities for the exploitation of gravel currently operate in the Morača and Cijevna areas, whether they are active, and why the facility operated by Montenegro Petrol has not been removed. Despite a lengthy wait, no answers were provided when this report was published.

Aleksandar Perović, the director of the NGO Ozon, points out to CIN-CG that the real issue lies in systemic dysfunction. "If, for example, one permit is missing—either a water permit or an environmental permit—this signals a lack of intersectoral cooperation and raises concerns about potential corruption and incompetence. It is inconceivable that institutions responsible for environmental and water protection cannot agree," he believes.

The EPA has stated that it will work to address this non-cooperation. CIN-CG has learned that, by the end of the month, at the Agency's initiative, a meeting will be held with representatives from the Water Administration, the Regional Water Supply (Montenegrin Coast), and the Municipality of Zeta. The goal of the meeting is for these institutions to come together to find a solution to the issue of asphalt plants.

Currently, the spatial plans in force classify the area where these plants are located as an industrial zone. If someone were to propose a nuclear power plant there, it would even be possible. Therefore, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the only viable solution is to impose a moratorium on construction until new spatial plans are adopted that would redefine the purpose of the land.

Everything problematic is concentrated in the Zeta area. We face serious environmental issues—KAP, red mud, gravel extraction, asphalt plants, and sewage collectors. The current spatial plans even allow for the establishment of smelters, ironworks, refineries, and the storage of flammable waste. I'm concerned that a complex and troubling situation lies ahead. The spatial plan needs to be revised to reflect the local community's needs better," Tatjana Torbica, a resident near the asphalt plants, said in an interview with CIN-CG.

Tehnoput Report Based on Irrelevant Data

Several noteworthy points emerge in the recently approved Elaboration of the Tehnoput, which the EPA approved at the end of last month.

The section discussing the current air quality state explicitly states that measurements were not taken at the project site. The report notes, "Air quality measurements at the project location were not conducted, as the site is situated near KAP." Instead, the earlier results of these measurements, as far back as 2017, are listed.

Similarly, soil quality data were not collected at the project location. Instead, the data dates back to March 2019 and pertains to a nearby site.

More recent data on environmental quality comes from the Morača River, specifically for the monitoring profile located downstream of the Cijevna River mouth. These measurements were sourced from the Ecological Yearbook III-21 of the Institute for Hydrometeorology and Seismology of Montenegro for 2021.

It is striking that the EPA approved the study in which, under the section titled "Population," the following statement appears: "In the vicinity of the site, specifically in the southwestern and southern parts, there are the settlements of Cijevna (61 inhabitants), Srpska (868 inhabitants), Balijače-Mahala (1,354 inhabitants), and Mitrovići (299 inhabitants)." Despite this, the study concludes that there will be no impact on the local population, stating: "There are no residential buildings in the immediate vicinity, and its exploitation will not have an impact on the local population... Normal operation of the asphalt base will not negatively affect people's health."

In response, the residents of Donje Cijevna and Mahala have filed a complaint against the Tehnoput Elaboration recently submitted to the EPA, to which CIN-CG had access. The locals argue that this statement is so inaccurate that it raises questions about whether the authors even understand the planned work's location and nature. As the complaint states, "The report contains a list of measures that can be taken to protect soil, water, air..., however,...nowhere is it precisely stated which of these measures the investor will undertake in his work and in what way."

Furthermore, Ozon emphasizes that environmental compliance requires consistent air, soil, and water quality monitoring, with regular reports submitted to the relevant authorities. Perović notes, "Practice shows that this is not being done."

Unseen Consequences: The Overlooked Health Impact of Dense Asphalt Plants Amidst Agricultural Lands

Donja Cijevna and Mahala residents are increasingly alarmed that no comprehensive analysis has ever been conducted to assess the impact of multiple asphalt plants concentrated in such a small area on human health.

Notably, in 2022, the Protector of Property and Legal Interests of Montenegro addressed a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), urging the Agency to evaluate the cumulative environmental impact of all three asphalt plants—something residents have been demanding for years, but without success.

The EPA, led by Milan Gazdić, replied to the Protector that the Law on Liability for Environmental Damage does not recognize claims that companies managing asphalt bases have polluted the environment. Instead of conducting new assessments, the Agency referred to existing findings from the Environmental Inspection and the Center for Ecotoxicological Testing (CETI), citing previously approved Environmental Impact Assessment studies for the facilities.

Despite this, residents have persistently submitted evidence indicating that the asphalt plants do not comply with environmental standards. "We face constant air and water pollution, unbearable noise, and serious health risks due to the plants operating without regulated working hours," Torbica warned.

She also highlighted the ongoing environmental degradation of the surrounding land and the direct discharge of wastewater into the Cijevna River. "On top of that, large mounds of waste material are scattered across the area, and when the wind picks up, it blows that dust right into our homes," she added.

Residents have repeatedly pointed out inaccuracies in the Environmental Impact Assessment. One of their letters to municipal authorities, seen by CIN-CG, challenges claims that there is no agricultural land near the asphalt plants. "On the eastern side, there are vineyards owned by Plantaže, and the potential harm to these crops has never been investigated. On the other side of the riverbank, near the railway, there is a privately-owned wheat farm, along with extensive fields of aromatic plants," the letter notes.

CIN-CG verified these claims through on-site visits and also contacted Plantaže.

The company stated: "Although no negative impact has been officially recorded in the micro-locations nearest the asphalt plants, we continue to monitor the situation closely as part of our regular field activities."

Residents had hoped all the plants would be shut down. "Two are already in operation, and now a third one, which has been here for 10 years without permits, approvals, or environmental studies, is about to start. We raised these issues with the previous Government, and now with the new one, but no one has responded," Bošković said.

Locals Lose Trust in Environmental Agency

Torbica points out that they have not received any response from the institutions about the damage so far. She is particularly disappointed in the work of the Environmental Protection Agency. "We addressed them; we even had a verbal promise from Milan Gazdić. He said that he would provide us with an assessment of the damage caused by the operation of the asphalt bases a couple of years ago, and we never received an answer," she says.

After obtaining approval for the construction of another base at Cijevna, the EPA, the Regional Waterworks - Montenegrin Coast, and the Water Administration followed a fight over who was to blame for the permit being issued in the first place.

In September of last year, the Regional Waterworks decisively announced that it was impossible to issue a consent to the Tehnoput Elaboration due to the protection of the Bolje Sestre water source. The EPA states that the Water Administration noted in its statement that the plot of the asphalt base is not located in the sanitary protection zone of the water source and that the base is about six kilometers away from it as the crow flies. The Water Administration states that the plot where the base is located is not covered by the second sanitary protection zone, nor by this source's proposed third protection zone.

Interestingly, however, this Administration has not determined the boundaries of this area's wider protection zone since 2008.

Torbica thinks the regional water supply had to hire an accredited institution that would make a realistic assessment of the wider sanitary protection zones. "Someone, by accident, left this area out of the wider zone of sanitary protection, from the third zone," she says.

The Regional Water Supply previously explained why asphalt bases cannot be in sanitary protection zones. "Considering that the operation of the base causes the release of chemicals into the air during production, including many toxic air pollutants such as arsenic, benzene, formaldehyde, cadmium, phenol and hexane, it is unacceptable and unfair to pollute the Morača River in this way and thus endanger the Bolje Sestre water source"

Gazdić has stated on several occasions that investors are obliged to observe measures to prevent or eliminate harmful effects.

"We cannot rely on the fact that the protection measures proposed in the studies will be taken, because this has not been the case until now either." Bemax, for example, discharges wastewater that is the product of washing their machines directly into Cijevna. If we know that the worst chemicals are used for this, and that it all goes into our rivers and Lake Skadar, what are we talking about then?" Bošković asks.

It is no wonder that the citizens do not trust that they will work according to the law. The Agency itself announced in November 2023 that the companies Montenegro petrol, Bemax, Cijevna Komerc, and Beton Montenegro did not comply with the legal obligation and did not submit the approval of a proposal for remedial measures due to the damage done in the bed of the Morača river.

By the way, the Law on Liability for Environmental Damage foresees a misdemeanor fine of two to forty thousand euros for a legal entity that does not prepare and submit a proposal for remedial measures within the time limit set by the decision.

CIN-CG previously wrote that out of 25 criminal proceedings initiated due to the illegal exploitation of gravel in the last five years, only five were completed. Two were rejected, and in three, the perpetrators received symbolic punishments—two fines of 1,700 euros and 800 euros, and one suspended sentence.

Montenegro petrol, on the other hand, has been stealing gravel on state land for decades. It has initiated proceedings against the state before the Commercial Court and is seeking compensation of four million euros!

Bošković points out that their struggle and ignoring the institutions has been going on for 10 years and announces that they will go on protesting if they do not receive an answer.

Asphalt Bases in the Region Are Located at a Distance from Populated Areas

Many asphalt plants in Montenegro are located far from densely populated areas. Examples include Teko Mining Vinča in Grocka, SremPut in Ruma, HidroKop in Banja Luka, Bjelovar Road, Zagreb Road, and Novi Pazar Road.

In certain countries, ecological asphalt associations prioritize the sustainable use of recycled asphalt, commonly referred to as "green asphalt." This includes the production of low-temperature asphalt, which emits fewer harmful substances.

The European Commission (EC) has warned for years that the asphalt industry is one of the most significant energy and raw materials consumers, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. Their proposed solution is the development of new technologies that integrate waste and recycled materials into the asphalt production process. This would enhance sustainability, reduce the carbon footprint, and minimize environmental impact. One such project, supported by the EC in Spain in 2014, presented the concept of eco-asphalt, which combines green binders, recycled aggregates from construction waste, and regenerated asphalt.

Although these eco-friendly practices have been implemented in Europe for years, they remain distant from Montenegro. Despite being intended as temporary, asphalt plants often stay in one location for decades. Donje Cijevna and Mahala residents express their frustration, stating they have no other place to call home. "Asphalt plants are mobile and can be relocated to more suitable areas, considering their destructive environmental impact," they say. With bitterness, they recall how, when they sought assistance from authorities, they were told that a similar plant was in the center of Berlin.

Many Companies Operate Illegally, Yet Police Fail to Respond

The Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) gained access to a report titled "Information on the Status of Inspection Procedures for Engineering Facilities – Asphalt Bases, Concrete Bases, and Crushing Plants," prepared by the Directorate for Inspection Supervision of the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning, and Urbanism at the end of January 2023.

This document outlines the results of inspections, decisions to rectify violations, demolitions, prohibitions, and requests to initiate misdemeanor proceedings against companies responsible for environmental damage in the Cijevna and Morača regions.

Regarding the Tehnoput facility in Cijevna, the Ministry decided in 2023 to halt construction, and the site was sealed. Despite 14 inspections and four decisions to rectify violations, the company continued its operations. Recently, the Urban and Construction Inspection issued another decision prohibiting construction, but it remains uncertain whether this will stop their activities, as previous decisions have had no effect.

Three demolition orders were issued for Bemax's asphalt base due to construction contrary to approved plans, and the legalization process was halted. Despite 13 inspections and the issuance of decisions to correct violations, Bemax continues to operate at the site.

Cijevna Komerc received a demolition order for two concrete bases built without proper permits, and inspections found violations related to selling unapproved concrete. In this case, the Environmental Inspection conducted 11 inspections, issued four decisions requiring the elimination of irregularities, and submitted two requests to initiate misdemeanor proceedings. The Market Inspection found that records related to the purchase and sale of bulk goods were not made available during the inspection, which constitutes a violation of the Law on Internal Trade. Furthermore, as was the case with Bemax, it was determined that concrete had been placed on the market without verified proof of usability. Yet, the company remains active in Cijevna.

Putevi had one asphalt base removed and a temporary facility installed. The company was subject to the most inspections (20) and numerous orders for violation corrections, but it continues operations at the location.

In Morača, Čelebić was prohibited from using a building not registered in the real estate cadastre. The company also violated internal trade laws. The Environmental Inspection conducted five inspections and issued three orders to rectify identified irregularities. The Market Inspection also recorded a violation of the Law on Internal Trade, as records of bulk goods transactions were not available at the time of inspection, mirroring previous cases. Additionally, it was found that the company was placing concrete on the market without verified usability through a statement of properties. Significant activity by Čelebić continues at the Morača site.

Montenegro Petrol is the only company whose facility was demolished because it was built in violation of the applicable planning documents and without the necessary permits. The Environmental Inspection carried out 19 inspections, issued six orders to eliminate irregularities, and submitted four requests to initiate misdemeanor proceedings. The Market Inspection found violations of both the Law on Internal Trade and the Law on Construction Products, for the same reasons previously identified in the case of Čelebić.

Despite these violations, all companies continue to operate without interruption. This is supported by information obtained by CIN-CG, which indicates that representatives of the competent environmental and water protection authorities in Montenegro recently visited the area, accompanied by foreign embassy officials, to demonstrate how gravel is being illegally extracted. During the visit, one embassy representative asked: "Why don't we call the police?"