Human Negligence as an Ecological Bomb: Croatia Pays a High Price
Waste fires, illegal dumpsites, and oil spills leave long-term consequences for soil, water, and public health.
Waste fires, illegal dumpsites, and oil spills leave long-term consequences for soil, water, and public health.
Over the past thirty years, Croatia has experienced major ecological damage caused not by nature but by human carelessness, poor waste management, maintenance failures in factories, and organized crime. From burning plastic and wild dumpsites to leaks of heating oil and diesel, the damage happens quickly, but repair takes years, as Narod.hr reports.
By definition, an ecological disaster can also be caused by human activity, such as the release of chemicals, oil, or improper waste disposal. In Croatia, these incidents recur due to weak oversight, aging infrastructure, and interests that outweigh environmental protection.
One of the biggest recent incidents occurred on October 4, 2023, at Drava International in the Osijek suburb of Brijest. Large quantities of waste plastic caught fire in an open storage area. The flames lasted for several days-according to some reports, up to nine-and engulfed an area of several hectares with bales stacked between 4 and 7 meters high.
Three firefighters sustained injuries, and smoke and toxic gases, including dioxins and formaldehyde, spread over the city and agricultural land. The company was licensed to store a maximum of 20,000 tons of waste, but satellite imagery and firefighter estimates indicated much larger quantities.
The owner stated that around 17,800 tons were present at the time of the fire, while local authorities mentioned hundreds of thousands of tons. Legal proceedings against co-owner Zvonko Bede and responsible individuals are still ongoing; they are charged with improper storage and fire safety deficiencies. The effects were devastating: accumulation of microplastics and harmful substances on soil and crops.
The biggest scandal in recent years was uncovered in 2025 at sites around Gospić, particularly in Bilajska Street and the former PPK Velebit complex, as well as in Štikade and other locations. Approximately 37,000 tons of mixed industrial waste, including plastics, medical and electronic waste, and construction materials, were illegally dumped, with most of it buried. Some of the waste was imported from Italy and Slovenia.
Analysis by the Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering revealed extremely high levels of heavy metals: copper nearly 100 times above the permitted limit, and lead ten times above the limit. Groundwater was found to contain PFAS, the so-called "forever chemicals," at concentrations up to 200.5 ng/l, double the permissible limit.
USKOK has launched investigative actions against spouses Josip and Monika Šincek and others. Remediation could cost tens of millions of euros, and part of the waste is intended for export because Croatia lacks the capacity to process it. The problem has also spread to other locations.
Three significant incidents involving petroleum derivatives have marked recent years. After heavy rains in 2019, fuel oil leaked from the remnants of tanks at the former alumina factory in Obrovac, contaminating the Zrmanja River and the Novigrad Sea. Estimates suggest hundreds of cubic meters of fuel oil were left in the karst during poor remediation. The pollution spread down the river to the sea, and the problem recurred over several years.
In November 2022, in Ližnjan, Istria, a black oily slick of heating oil contaminated from several hundred meters to several kilometers of coastline. Analyses matched samples from Kostrena, where a spill had occurred a few days earlier from the Rijeka Thermal Power Plant. HEP paid cleanup costs exceeding one million euros.
In April 2025, on Hvar, approximately 17 tons of diesel fuel leaked from an underground tank at INA's gas station in Križna Luka. The contamination affected a nearby cove and part of the coastal belt. INA took responsibility and initiated remediation, and subsequent analyses showed that the sea was not permanently endangered for swimming.
A particularly persistent problem is the Knin lagoons next to the former TVIK factory, later renamed DIV. For decades, wastewater and fuel oil residues have been deposited there, overflowing into the Orašnica and Krka rivers, threatening Krka National Park. Remediation is stalled due to disputes over responsibility.
All these examples point to the same pattern: weak oversight, slow government response, and lasting damage to soil, water, and health. While natural disasters cannot be fully prevented, those caused by human action could be avoided through stricter controls, faster restoration, and genuine accountability. Without this, Croatia will continue to pay the price of negligence-through taxpayers' money and the health of its citizens and nature.
