Domitrović: Sodol Closed Due to Social Media Lies, Waste Is Exclusively Municipal
Mayor Dalibor Domitrović denies social media claims about alleged hazardous waste at the Sodol landfill, while admitting the site lacks a waste management permit.
Mayor Dalibor Domitrović denies social media claims about alleged hazardous waste at the Sodol landfill, while admitting the site lacks a waste management permit.
The Sodol landfill in Ogulin has been temporarily closed to waste from other cities and municipalities in order, according to Mayor Dalibor Domitrović, to draw journalists' attention and refute falsehoods spreading on social media. At a press conference held on August 18, 2026, at the Ogulin city administration, Domitrović stated that this is a campaign against the authorities and the mayor from notorious Facebook pages.
"We closed it for two reasons: to highlight the pile of lies and inaccurate data being circulated about the landfill-this is a campaign against the authorities and the mayor from notorious Facebook pages that have put out a bunch of incorrect information, and we want to refute that. The second reason is to present accurate information to journalists," Domitrović explained.
Domitrović denied claims of enormous queues and the import of hazardous waste, emphasizing that the landfill's capacity is eight trucks per day. "The landfill's capacity is 8 trucks a day; the ramp can't handle more, let alone 35," he said. He also stressed that nothing but mixed municipal waste is brought to Sodol.
According to him, waste arrives from Makarska, Kaštela, Josipdol, Plaški, Samobor, Varaždin, and Jaska via the company Ekoflor, and it is transported by two companies with waste origin certificates. The waste is exclusively from Croatia, and transporters are hired by utility companies. The landfill operates from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and transporters who arrive late are not accepted until the next morning, so the "story about overnight stays, sleeping, and truck gatherings is false," Domitrović claims.
Domitrović also pointed out that the City of Ogulin is contractually obliged to accept mixed municipal waste from other cities and municipalities. If it fails to do so, it faces penalties or the return of funds received. He added that the landfill remediation after the end of disposal will cost 5 to 6 million euros, and citizens will foot the bill.
The mayor admitted that the landfill does not have a waste management permit. "We submitted the application for a waste management permit a year ago; the county office rejected it, and we appealed in August 2025 to the second-instance body-we still haven't received a response today. Supetar is in exactly the same situation," he said.
The inspection decision that previously halted operations at Sodol was issued due to the lack of a waste management permit. After an appeal by Stambeno komunalno gospodarstvo Ogulin d.o.o., the Ministry revoked that decision, and the landfill resumed operations after 15 days. The process of resolving the permit application is still ongoing.
"Yes, someone might say-You're non-compliant, you don't have a waste management permit. But we have a decision from the then-Minister Ćorić based on which we dispose of mixed municipal waste," Domitrović said.
Bojan Prebežić, director of Stambeno komunalno gospodarstvo, emphasized that drinking water is safe. Every spring in Karlovac County is regularly monitored by the Institute of Public Health, and utility companies are required to test water quality once a year.
When asked how we can be sure there is no hazardous waste, Domitrović replied: "We can't be sure there's no hazardous waste, just as I can't be sure my wife isn't cheating on me." He added that 60 landfills in Croatia are under the control of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, and every delivery has a conformity certificate for mixed municipal waste, with visual inspections of the contents.
Sodol has been operating for half a century, and an environmental impact study was conducted in 2007. "After 30 years of disposal, the environmental impact study showed no contamination," Domitrović said. The landfill is located 1.2 kilometers from the Dobra River, and at the current rate, Sodol has space for another 10 to 12 years of disposal. Domitrović also stressed that Sodol generates significant revenue and that Ogulin has the most organized waste collection system in the county.
He also revealed that the Karlovac County prefect has requested a pile of data, which the City will provide and make public. "We're not Gospić, we're not Mikulić; we're citizens of Ogulin who will continue to work here. I don't want to poison our children; those are lies. That's the reason-to point out the lies and present the facts," Domitrović said.
Domitrović and his associates also complained about comments on social media and the fear they and their families feel. "If you read comments saying the mayor should be set on fire, trucks on the road, that the hunting society should rise up, it's not pleasant; these are faces you recognize on the street, and I don't know what that person might do to my child," Prebežić said.
The City of Ogulin stated that citizens' questions about waste management are legitimate and that the public has the right to complete and verifiable information, but claims about hazardous waste, nighttime dumping, and other illegalities must be based on evidence, not assumptions or unverified social media posts.
"When political action rests on falsehoods and spreading panic instead of arguments and concrete programs, the greatest harm is done to the very citizens whose interests are supposedly being protected," the City of Ogulin said. The landfill will reopen to accept waste from other local government units in the coming days.
