The biggest air pollutants in Bosnia and Herzegovina

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The list of the biggest air pollutants in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2018 presented by the Aarhus Center Zenica is led by the company Arcelor Mital Zenica, then thermal power plants Tuzla, Ugljevik and Gacko, cement plants Lukavac and Kakanj, coke plant GIKIL and refinery in Slavonski Brod.

The list was created on the basis of a database on pollutants created together with Arnika organizations from the Czech Republic and the Zenica Eco Forum.

Arnika and the Zenica Eco Forum are publishing data that they have been collecting from the competent institutions since 2011, and this year, for the first time, an alternative database of polluters is showing data from the Republika Srpska.

Professor Samir Lemeš from the Zenica Eco Forum pointed out that there has been a “slight improvement in data transparency”, as annual reports on shows are finally publicly available on the Internet.

By comparing the data back ten years, he noted, it is possible to identify which companies are investing in modernization and technologies for environmental protection and human health.

Thus, as it was said, Termoelektrana Ugljevik achieved investment in emissions by building a desulphurization plant in 2019, and investments in dust filters helped to significantly reduce pollution from the Kakanj cement plant, while reducing emissions from the Arselor Mital Zenica plant is considered to be the cause was a decline in production due to the global economic crisis.

According to Martin Skalski from the Czech town of Arnika, the data submitted by industrial plants are not reliable, because they contain a huge number of errors, so almost 90 percent of these data are irrelevant. In doing so, the two entities use different systems and different methodologies.

Skalski states that in 2003, BiH signed, and since 2009 it has been changing the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers, which is an integral part of the Aarhus Convention.

“According to that protocol, the states have committed themselves to publicly publish data on pollution. To date, it has been ratified by 37 countries and as a separate entity by the European Union, but it has not yet been ratified by the BiH Parliament. So, this system is not obligatory for the industry “, pointed out Skalski.

He emphasizes that without “transparency of pollution data, which is a key step on the road to cleaner air”, state bodies cannot act, so the public and the media are not able to control the situation.

Source: bhrt.ba

 

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