MONTENEGRO REMOVES HAZARDOUS MATERIAL FROM HOUSEHOLDS AND THE ENVIRONMENT SLOWLY AND INSUFFICIENTLY: ASBESTOS - THE SLOW AND SILENT KILLER

EVEN THOUGH THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECLARED 2028 AS A REASONABLE DEADLINE FOR AN ASBESTOS-FREE EUROPE, MONTENEGRO DOES NOT HAVE ANY ACCURATE RECORDS OF CANCER-CAUSING MATERIAL OR A PLAN FOR ITS REMOVAL

"My child will be bathing there tomorrow," Mladen Krivokapic told CIN-CG/Monitor.

He is one of 15 workers who worked on clearing the terrain of the former Bijela Shipyard. The removal of huge quantities of grit and other dangerous materials was supposed to be completed by the end of June. But their contracts were not extended in May, after, as they claim, they warned their supervisors that the area is being cleaned unprofessionally and that dangerous asbestos-containing material remains in the environment which poses threat to human health.

''In some places, the ground was dug seven meters and it was properly cleaned, while in other, against regulation, only half a meter. We asked the Nature and Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) and Center for Ecotoxicological Research (CETI) to check it. However, instead of CETI taking the sample itself, the Valgo Company provided samples for it, after which CETI claimed everything was fine. NEPA didn’t even show up,'' Krivokapic claims.

The five-member team, which, according to him, was trained by experts from the Valgo Company from Paris, extracted asbestos from the grit.

"They had complete equipment, like astronauts - gloves, masks, suits, oxygen. Up to eight kilograms of asbestos were extracted daily and stored according to a special procedure. Several tons of asbestos are now stored in the Shipyard, waiting for export ", Krivokapić says.

We have not received answers from the Valgo Company, whose representatives signed the contract with the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism in June 2018, on the soil remediation in the former Bijela Shipyard. NEPA hasn’t responded either regarding the claims of the fired workers.

Valgo has been selected following the international tender. The removal of grit (solid waste and contaminated land) is part of a project to rehabilitate black environmental spots, for which Montenegro has taken a 50 million euro loan from the World Bank. After that, a mega yacht service is planned to be built in Bijela, based on a 30-year concession given by the Government to the Damen-Porto Montenegro consortium.

The protest of these workers and the asbestos stored in Bijela additionally brought to the fore the topic of the health risk of the population. Even though the European Parliament approved a resolution in 2013 declaring 2028 a reasonable deadline for "an asbestos-free Europe", Montenegro still does not have accurate records of asbestos-containing facilities or a precise plan on how to remove from the environment material that causes some of the most serious diseases.

Government institutions dealing with ecology are mainly concerned with shifting responsibilities and recalling that the 2016 Law on Environment (11 years after the EU directive) completely prohibits asbestos-containing products from entering the market, as well as the use of all types of asbestos fibers. They also remind that it stipulates that facilities built after this period, do not contain asbestos.

Inhalation of asbestos fibers causes lung cancer

Existing facilities and devices are an issue. Inhalation of asbestos fibers has been shown to cause lung cancer and other lung diseases. Asbestos fibers are invisible, up to 500 times thinner than hair follicles. The consequences of exposure to a "silent killer" can occur even after 40 years.

"Asbestos is all around us" – this is the title of a publication published ten years ago by the Croatian Institute of Toxicology. It is very similar to the Manual on the Handling of Materials Containing Asbestos Fibers issued in 2017 by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism (MSDT) and the Nature and Environment Protection Agency. According to this manual, every building that was constructed or refurbished before 2000 could contain asbestos.

Prominent Dutch expert Harry Vonk, the author of numerous books on the subject, pointed out, during his visit to Belgrade last year, that more than 18,000 items contain asbestos, of which only 15 percent do not cause cancer.

"Harmful health effects of inhaled asbestos particles are a consequence of its proven carcinogenic effect," Dr. Ivana Joksimović from the Institute of Public Health of Montenegro told CIN-CG. "If necessary, asbestos removal should only be carried out under strict control measures to avoid exposure. This requires the use of personal protective equipment - special respirators, protective goggles, gloves, and clothing, as well as adherence to special instructions for their decontamination."

From water heaters to brakes

Joksimović reminds that asbestos was installed in households in different places, in external or partition walls, different forms of cement mixture or mixture with polymers such as vinyl, old roof panels, as an insulator in ovens, water heaters or steam heating boilers, in plumbing pipes, electrical appliances, car brake systems, gloves and clothing for heat protection…

Joksimović states that workers in the following industries are at risk of contracting asbestosis and other diseases related to asbestos: shipbuilding industry, tractor industry, motor and textile industry, construction workers, workers renovating houses and removing asbestos, as well as miners.

"It is very important to emphasize that asbestos materials must not be touched unless it is necessary because decomposition is a very big issue during its removal due to the health risk to which both workers and citizens are exposed," Joksimović emphasizes.

The World Health Organization estimates that 125 million people worldwide are exposed to asbestos in the workplace each year. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), more than 107,000 workers die each year from disease caused by such exposure. Several thousand people die each year from asbestos in their surroundings. According to European experts’ estimates, about half a million people in the EU will die by 2030 due to asbestos exposure in the second half of the 20th century. Although asbestos was banned by Sweden 30 years ago, the number of deaths due to occupational exposure to it is two to three times higher than the number of deaths due to work-related injuries.

The consequences of asbestos exposure in Montenegro are not sufficiently known.

"According to data obtained from healthcare institutions, diseases that can be linked to asbestos exposure are rarely reported, but there is currently no mechanism to confirm the causal link with certainty. The establishing of the register of occupational diseases will create conditions for connecting, identifying and confirming asbestos-related occupational diseases", Joksimović says.

Such register has never existed in Montenegro, and the Government's Strategy for Improving Occupational Medicine 2015-2020 states that "there is no reliable data on the incidence and prevalence of occupational diseases." There is a Rulebook on Determination of Occupational Diseases, which lists 56 occupational diseases, including asbestosis of the lungs, but there are no data on sick persons.

Đina Mitrić, the coordinator of the Safety at Work Association of Montenegro (SWAM), reminds us that this first of August, on the World Lung Cancer Day, the need to raise awareness about the risks was pointed out. One of the most common forms of cancer is associated with exposure to dangerous substances, such as asbestos.

"But, it seems that people in Montenegro don’t want to listen about that," Mitric said.

Experts needed only because of the loan

According to her, the Association contacted professors from the Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology who were in the expert teams regarding the mentioned grit in Bijela and found that none of them had any information on what was happening at that location.

"The moment the funds were received from the World Bank, their expert opinions were no longer of interest to anyone. It is only known that the grit still lies in the crumbling sacks in Bijela. Nobody knows what happened to the asbestos that was extracted from it and other dangerous heavy metal impurities," Mitric says.

Civil engineer and appraiser Predrag Nikolic points out for CIN-CG that it is necessary to remove asbestos pipes in the water supply system. That job will imply certain health risks, so the necessary equipment and protection should be provided. Monitor/CIN-CG wrote that it is necessary to replace about 620 kilometers of water pipes in Montenegrin waterworks, for which 100 million euros are needed.

When it comes to the region, the progress has been recorded. Siniša Mitrović, from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, explains for CIN-CG/Monitor that last year they intensified cooperation with the Dutch company KIWA, which is the leading company in Europe for asbestos disposal. So far, they have created the project Asbestos Monitoring in Serbia, in which special emphasis is placed on public facilities - schools, military barracks, centers for social work, health and agricultural facilities, water supply infrastructure…

"We are raising the capacity of the laboratories for testing the presence of asbestos in construction facilities, and the first asbestos handling center during the demolition of buildings and its proper disposal. We are finishing the new Rulebook on asbestos since the previous one was made in 2010. The most important thing is that we are ready for the regional monitoring project, as well as for the regional center for permanent storage of asbestos ", Mitrović says.

He recommends to his colleagues in Montenegro to establish contact with a Dutch company, which, among other things, can help access EU funds to solve this problem.

"The cadaster of facilities containing asbestos has been established, but since there is no legal regulation by which representatives of local self-governments would be obliged to report such facilities, that work cannot be carried out well," Mirjana Sklabinski from the Serbian Ministry of Environmental Protection stated.

"The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism does not have data on facilities in the construction of which asbestos was used," the MSDT answered CIN-CG/Monitor.

According to the architect Borislav Vukićević, this indicates a whole series of problems. He explains that the establishment of a database on asbestos-containing facilities is the first step on the way to defining procedures for its safe removal.

''If there is no initial data - then it is not possible to plan further activities. This does not only apply to the list of facilities. It is necessary to determine the exact positions of the asbestos elements in those facilities - which would be, I suppose, a serious and demanding job - which would necessarily precede the removal itself ", Vukićević said.

The Agency recalled the existing manual and submitted data that in 2010 they issued a permit for the export of 1,500 tons of waste construction materials containing asbestos. The second permit was issued in March 2018, when 200 tons were exported. The waste was exported to Germany, and the work was done by the Hemosan Company from Bar.

Zoran Nikitović from Hemosan says that their company worked on the removal, packaging, storage, and export of hazardous waste, including asbestos waste, on the entire territory of Montenegro. Since 2010, they have exported a total of 1,488.70 tons of all types of hazardous waste - Porto Montenegro 594.20 tons, Lustica Development 145 tons, Porto Novi 220.37 tons. It is exported to EU countries, and one of them is Germany.

"The price is determined by parameters such as quantity, type, export destination, packaging, storage," Nikitovic says. He is not allowed to state the precise price due to contractual obligations, he explains, but they range from 1,100 to 1,300 euros per ton.

"The main goal is to protect the population from a disease called asbestosis, which causes lung cancer and which is recognized in the world as one of the causes of lung diseases. It is very important that protection measures are carried out rigorously and that there is no improvisation in this type of work, as with all types of hazardous waste. Exports are done according to the Basel Convention and it is quite difficult to get a permit to the final destination. After packing, it can be stored at the location of work, or if there are smaller quantities in our warehouses that are specialized and safely packed ", Nikitović says.

When asked what kind of waste construction material it was, whether they were removed from old buildings, how much it cost to remove it and export to Germany, the Agency said that they did not have that information and referred us to MSDT.

The Administration for Inspection Affairs, however, states that the Agency also has competencies: "Asbestos that is installed in buildings, in case of demolition, i.e. removal is considered hazardous waste, according to the Law on Waste Management. Investors, or contractors, depending on who is the holder of such waste, must develop a Construction Waste Management Plan, and since asbestos is considered hazardous construction waste, they must obtain the consent of the Nature and Environmental Protection Agency."

"In previous years, on several large investment projects, the asbestos roofing was removed. A legal entity licensed by the Agency for Management of this type of waste was in charge of asbestos removal. The Administration stated that after its removal, it was packed and after obtaining permits, exported from Montenegro for permanent disposal.

MSDT told CIN-CG that "in order to introduce energy efficiency measures", a large number of health facilities, educational and social institutions and buildings, where the administration is located, were renovated, and that "… in case of finding asbestos materials it was removed and managed in an adequate and legally prescribed manner." For the exact number of facilities, we were referred to the Ministry of Economy.

Former Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism Pavle Radulović, was not specific in one of the last public appearances in October last year during the parliamentary debate, in which he, referring to asbestos and a large number of cancer patients, stated:

''The existence of asbestos is a factual situation. We are grown people, we can tell fairy tales, but asbestos pipes, roofs, and facades still exist in certain parts of Montenegro. These citizens have been warned. I hope that the state will regulate it through the social program since the citizens cannot finance the replacements themselves.''

Radulovic has resigned, and Prime Minister Dusko Markovic is currently at the head of MSDT. Asbestos is not in the program documents of the current election campaign.

NO MORE WASTE EXPORTS TO SPAIN

In Bijela, it was necessary to treat 150 thousand tons of materials - land, dust from metal residues, and other waste, on an area of about 18 thousand square meters. The project relies on Valgo's expertise (Valgo is an asbestos removal and soil remediation company) regarding detailed analysis of contaminated soil and treatment of sensitive waste including hydrocarbon derivatives, metal, and asbestos.

From March to August last year, 38,500 tons of grit were exported to Spain. In September last year, the Montenegrin government asked Spain for permission to export another 30,000 tons of solid waste and 40,000 tons of contaminated land but they refused. Since then, grit export has been stopped. Valgo Company announced in April this year that the Norwegian Environmental Protection Agency had given the green light for the import of contaminated land from the Bijela Shipyard.

"Tons of grit, enough to fill seven to eight ships are waiting to be exported. Everything stopped, although according to the contract with Valgo, it was supposed to be finished by June 30 ", Krivokapić says.

ASBESTOS-CONTAINING MATERIAL WAS KNOWN TO BE HARMFUL

Asbestos was widely used in construction between 1950 and the mid-1980s. This material was installed in factories, halls, houses, entire residential areas, but also in schools and hospitals throughout the former Yugoslavia. It is most often used in the components of vinyl tiles and vinyl floors and a popular asbestos roof panels in Yugoslavia.

The Salonit factory in Vranjica near Split, which has used asbestos in the production of construction materials since 1921, has produced over seven million tons of asbestos roof panels.

"It was known 40 years ago that asbestos was harmful. I remember that my father took it off from the old house, so he covered the barn and barracks with it ", says a farmer from Bjelopavlići. A similar experience is described in Croatian manuals dealing with this topic: "If people were aware of this danger, it would not happen that the replaced asbestos roof covering would end up as a temporary roof covering for all possible canopies, storage rooms, as protection and a roof for wood and dog houses, etc."

Asbestos is a solid material, and any work on its removal or replacement when it breaks, punctures, drills, creates an emission of asbestos dust, which when inhaled causes serious diseases.

In 2018 alone, close to 300 tons of asbestos waste was removed in Serbia. The plan is to make a national register in the next two years so that Serbia can apply for European funds and thus repair as many facilities as possible.

Predrag NIKOLIĆ
Andrea JELIĆ