Prša: We Expect the Investigation in Slavonski Brod to Result in Charges Against Those Responsible

Deputy Director of the Police for Crime Željko Prša stated on Thursday before the Parliamentary Committee for Environmental Protection and Nature that the Ministry of the Interior and the State Attorney’s Office are conducting a comprehensive criminal investigation into the ecological incident that occurred in Slavonski Brod, and it is expected that the investigation will result in criminal charges against those responsible.

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“We are going broad and comprehensive, there will certainly be no cover-up. There were no problems with any ministry in obtaining anything, and we expect assistance from the relevant experts. In cooperation with the State Attorney’s Office, the Police Directorate has prioritized this case, and we expect that the investigation will result in charges against someone,” said Prša at the thematic session of the Committee.

Ćorić: The area of the incident is still under inspection

The Committee discussed the Report on the Quality of Air and Water in the Slavonski Brod area, the planned modernization of the Brod Refinery facilities, and the planned and undertaken activities and measures regarding air and water pollution in that area.

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Minister of Environmental Protection and Energy Tomislav Ćorić reiterated that all state services immediately went to the field upon learning of the ecological incident and ordered urgent remediation measures. The area where the incident occurred on March 28, which caused water pollution, is still under inspection, and results from the investigation by the Ministry of the Interior and the State Attorney’s Office are expected, along with bringing those responsible to justice, said Ćorić.

The inspection of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy ordered further activities related to the draining of the inactive product pipeline at the western entrance to Slavonski Brod, checking the state of environmental protection, continuing soil investigations to prevent further pollution, and removing 208 tons of contaminated soil and 96 tons of contaminated water.

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Assistant Minister of Health Vera Janković Katalinić stated that the Commission for Water for Human Consumption meets regularly, and enhanced water control will continue in the upcoming period. The Ministry of Health will finance a five-year study to further evaluate air pollution in that area.

Duspara: The pollution problem has not been resolved for 10 years

The Mayor of Slavonski Brod, Mirko Duspara, expressed discontent that the pollution problem, caused by the Brod Refinery in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, has not been resolved for 10 years, and the intergovernmental commission of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina has not met for more than a year. Now an ecological incident has occurred, and the residents of Brod have the right to answers, but they no longer trust the institutions after everything that has happened, he said.

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“The residents of Brod first need to know what is happening with the investigation, what happened underground, in the wells, to restore people’s trust,” said Duspara.

The president of the Brodske mame association, Ivana Smolčić Jurković, also pointed out that they have not been adequately informed from the beginning, hence the distrust in institutions. The incident is not discussed publicly and transparently but “in parliamentary committees,” and accurate information about the impact of hydrocarbons on health is not provided, and nothing has been resolved for years despite the known air pollution.

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During the discussion, Member of Parliament Hrvoje Zekanović (HRAST) asked why the state has not tried to resolve the issue of pollution from the Brod refinery through a lawsuit, while Slaven Dobrović (Most) stated that the best solution for this problem is the gasification of the refinery.