A Crime Against Nature and Against Croatia: 37,000 Tons of Waste in the Heart of Lika
USKOK's report reveals the industrial scale of an ecological disaster in Gospić, raising questions about accountability and systemic failure.
USKOK's report reveals the industrial scale of an ecological disaster in Gospić, raising questions about accountability and systemic failure.
Yesterday's report by USKOK on pollution in Lika exposed the alarming scale of an environmental crime. In Gospić, in the heart of Lika, approximately 37,000 tons of mixed technogenic waste were illegally dumped, and expert analysis has determined that part of this waste possesses the hazardous property of ecotoxicity. Contamination with heavy metals and perfluorinated compounds has already reached groundwater.
The volume of 37,000 tons of waste points to an operation of enormous logistical proportions. A single large semi-trailer can carry roughly 25 tons of cargo, meaning that nearly 1,500 fully loaded trucks were required to transport this amount. If these trucks were lined up bumper to bumper, they would form a convoy 25 kilometers long. With just ten meters of space between vehicles, that convoy would stretch to nearly 40 kilometers, approximately the length of the entire highway from Zagreb to Karlovac.
Had standard heavy trucks with a capacity of 10 to 12 tons been used, this would have involved more than 3,000 individual trips. Transporting the same mass with vans would have required tens of thousands of vehicles. These figures clearly demonstrate that this was not the work of a single irresponsible individual, but rather an organized activity on an industrial scale.
Part of the waste was imported from Slovenia and Italy, which further deepens the mystery of oversight failures by the competent authorities. Although the Schengen Agreement abolished regular border controls, European regulations on cross-border waste shipments remain in force. Each shipment must have the required documentation, and hazardous waste requires prior approval from the competent authorities. The question arises as to how nearly 1,500 semi-trailers could pass unimpeded through the transport systems of two or three countries for years without being stopped by police, customs, or inspections.
At the site itself in Gospić, according to expert findings, vegetation was removed over an area of nearly 18,000 square meters. Legal waste management requires numerous permits, a responsible person, record-keeping, and compliance with environmental, occupational safety, and fire protection requirements. All of this is subject to oversight by several different inspection services. While inspectors in routine checks measure lighting levels of 300 lux or fine a faulty fire extinguisher 500 euros, it remains unclear how a massive facility with thousands of bags of hazardous waste went unnoticed for years.
This environmental catastrophe was uncovered just days after the 31st anniversary of Operation Storm, which liberated Lika from aggressors. While speeches were being given at the ceremonies, someone was, for years, hauling and burying tens of thousands of tons of waste in that same Lika, turning one of Croatia's most beautiful regions into a vast illegal dump.
The key question that arises is how high up the chain of responsibility goes. Such things do not happen on their own. Citizens have the right to know who issued the permits, who conducted the oversight and what they found, and who concluded that everything was in order. If the political response to all of this is that "nobody knew," it would mean that the problem is much deeper and concerns the very core of how the state functions.
"What happened in Gospić is a crime against Lika and against nature. A crime against Croatia," reads a commentary from Index.hr.
