USKOK releases extensive expert report for Bilajska 50, Chief State Attorney confirms pollution in Lika, and the Mayor of Gospić fiercely calls out the Prime Minister, demanding urgent remediation without public procurement.
Official confirmation of the degree of pollution has arrived for the Gospić affair involving hazardous waste at Bilajska Street 50. On Wednesday, August 6, 2026, USKOK informed the public of the findings of the expert assessment concerning environmental protection at that location; Chief State Attorney Ivan Turudić stated that it is a large document of approximately 300 pages, with an additional 50-page annex.
The finding, as Turudić himself summarized, "is not great." "Lika is polluted in that area," the Chief State Attorney said, confirming what residents and local authorities had been warning about for months.
Almost simultaneously with the DORH announcement, the Mayor of Gospić, Darko Milinović, also spoke out. Through a video message and a Facebook post, in his recognizable style, he commented on the received findings about groundwater at the site where, as he states, the "GREATEST crime with hazardous waste" occurred.
Milinović first highlighted the positive aspects of the findings: "No PFAS compounds were found upstream. No harmful effects on human health were found." He added that PFAS was detected downstream, but that groundwater is not used in the public water supply and the health of residents was not endangered. "There are no increased concentrations of heavy metals, mercury, etc... No RADIOACTIVITY was found!" he wrote.
However, what he called the "bad" part of the story triggered his fierce reaction. "In MORE THAN A YEAR, not a single kilogram of hazardous waste HAS BEEN REMOVED!" Milinović said. He also claimed that the habitat has been destroyed, which was to be expected, and that the potential for further pollution has increased if urgent remediation does not take place, "as is clearly stated in the findings and as I have been warning about."
The Mayor of Gospić took the opportunity to directly address Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. "Given all this, I once again CALL on Prime Minister Plenković to decide on a DIRECT negotiated procedure WITHOUT the public procurement process, which has already ended UNSUCCESSFULLY," Milinović wrote, adding: "I SAID this MORE THAN a year ago, but they turned a DEAF EAR."
He concluded his post with an appeal and a demand for the prosecution of those responsible. "IT IS HIGH TIME THEY LISTEN TO ME!" he said, adding: "OF COURSE, I expect that ALL THOSE RESPONSIBLE be prosecuted in an EXPEDITED court proceeding because that MUST be a NATIONAL interest and a MESSAGE TO ALL CRIMINALS WHO ENDANGER PEOPLE'S HEALTH!"
