08.07.2020.
Director of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund Siniša Kukić visited the location highly polluted with waste – pit Sovjak. The director was accompanied by his colleagues Andrea Bartolić, the secretary of the Fund, and Maja Feketić, head of the EU Funds Sector.
After years of preparation of this specific remediation project, in which the Fund has the role of the beneficiary, it is expected that the implementation of remediation will start soon as the evaluation of works and supervision bids is under way, while the bids for the project manager and public relations services will be opened on 20 and 21 July respectively. It is estimated that in the period 1956–1990 approx. 250.000 m3 of exclusively hazardous waste had been deposited in the pit (acid sludge, waste tar, acetylene sludge, waste oils and waste gear oils from the shipyards, etc.). Over the years of active disposal, different types of waste interacted and it is estimated that now there are 152.000 m3 of waste in the pit. The envisaged duration of the works contract is 54 months, and remediation will include the removal of floating hydrocarbons, transport and incineration outside Croatia, and finally backfilling the pit with treated material and inert material, and closing with the top drainage system. In the process of remediation, special attention will be paid to the protection of the environment and human health, especially considering the proximity of the houses and the densely populated area. The overall value of the project is HRK 377m, of which EU funding covers 85%, or HRK 320.5m, while the remaining 15%, or HRK 56.5m, is provided by the Fund.
