Despite promises made for decades, citizens still pay for extreme air, land and river pollution.
Author: Andrea Dangli, Benard Neza, Jenna Miller
Manushaqe Sejati has been living in Bradashesh of Elbasan for 36 years. As each day dawns, her work order is dictated by the consequences she faces every day from living near the steel factory.
"Every morning we have to clean the windows, railings and everything else outside the apartment, as they are covered with dust. At night, Metallurgical factories work more.
They do not operate the filters that clean the smoke. The earth does not produce anything from pollution", - she says worriedly.
Even Albert Çela, another resident who lives not far from the combine, considers life near this industry to be a disaster. He even goes further, when he recalls some of the cases where there have been genetic mutations in the area, which the residents believe come from heavy environmental pollution.
"There are countless cases when people and animals are born with too many or too few limbs. Industrial waste is everywhere, on our lands and in the river Shkumbin", - the resident says.
The problems that the residents of the area show are endless and in their stories you can clearly feel the irritation that comes as a result of a situation that has been going on for decades and for which there has never been a final solution.
Concerns for them have arisen since the construction of the Metallurgical Plant during the 70s, at a time when the continuation of this industry has been more and more problematic for their lives. Foreign and local companies privatized some of the factories, where they began to install their activity outside of any serious control.
Pollution, Elbasan the most affected by respiratory diseases
Residents of the Bradashesh area in Elbasan and those of the areas around the Metallurgical Plant show that they are breathing polluted air every day, at a time when doctors consider Elbasan to be the most problematic in terms of respiratory-related diseases.
According to the data provided by the Laboratory of Investigative Journalism from the "Mother Teresa" university hospital center, QSUT, during the last years Elbasan has taken the first place for chronic diseases of the respiratory system and topped the list for deaths caused by chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, pulmonary emphysema and asthma.
Furthermore, the conclusions of QSUT emphasize that this city takes the second place for gastrointestinal diseases and the first place for premature births and those with deformities.
The laboratory closely observed the state of air pollution in the area, where it monitored the activity of the companies throughout the 24 hours.
With the naked eye, it was easy to see that the amount of smoke released from factories at midnight or in the early hours of the morning was higher than during the day.
During the dawn the sky was darkened by black plumes, which came out of the chimneys of the industries operating in the area.
Air pollution in Elbasan is also periodically documented by the National Environment Agency. In the last annual report of this agency, it is emphasized that during 2015, Elbasan is alongside Tirana as one of the most polluted cities in Albania in terms of urban air quality and metal content. So far there is no well-defined strategy to reduce this pollution found.
Ranges of waste, immobile, despite promises
For Manushaqe, Alberti and other residents of the area near the Metallurgical Plant, large piles of slag as a result of industrial pollution are another worrying problem.
Currently, in the vicinity of the factories and on the edge of the river Shkumbin, ranges of immobile slag have been created for decades. Trucks filled with slag and other waste from the factories continue to dump their loads near the banks of the Shkumbin River. They are estimated to be thousands of tons and with the naked eye you can estimate piles that go up to 250 meters in length and 15 meters in height.
The disposal of waste in nature started before 1990, when all industries were state-owned, and continues to this day to be carried out by companies that have set up activity around the area.
It was expected that through an order issued in 2015, the Environment and Forestry Inspectorate should have brought their accommodation under control.
Meanwhile, the situation on the ground proves otherwise.
The lab took a close look at the area as a whole, where the only people participating in waste reduction are the scrap workers who dig to find and sell any scraps of scrap metal from the factories.
The environmental expert, Ahmet Mehmeti, at the same time a member of the Municipal Council, Elbasan, told the Laboratory that waste is currently being thrown out of control near the shores of Shkumbin.
"Industrial waste continues to be thrown at the same rate. In their composition there are heavy metals such as chromium, mercury, lead, etc. So far no intervention has been made. The pollution of the Shkumbin river carries the consequences beyond Elbasan. Its flow crashes against the edge of the slag ridges. Being by the river, they go to the underwater creatures, to the plants and then they end up in the people", - Mehmet says.
Meanwhile, the environmentalist Lavdosh Ferruni views with skepticism the method of organizing industrial waste, as he gives his suggestions for their management.
"Throwing them in the open environment has serious consequences for the environment. Falling rains pollute the water, the soil and after them the agricultural products. A special landfill should be created", - said Ferruni about the Laboratory.
Asked by the Laboratory about a management plan, the Ministry of Environment says that the responsibility for moving the waste is not theirs, but the local government's.
"Integrated waste management is a legal obligation of the local government. Since the waste is deposited by different operators, the main responsibility is e to the industrial operators who have generated this waste, according to the "Polluter pays" principle, - says the Ministry of Environment.
After this answer, the Laboratory contacted the Municipality of Elbasan, which directed the responsibility to another institution.
"Foreign and local companies that exercise private activity in the industrial area of the former Metalurgjik depend directly on the Ministry of Economy. This means both their territory and the buildings in this vertical dependence. Even for their derivatives, as well as technological waste, the competence and responsibility is of this ministry and not of the Municipality of Elbasan", - the municipality communicates.
The Laboratory then turned to the Ministry of Economy, which gave a firm answer saying that they have no competence regarding these companies.
She says that the Ministry of Energy and Industry is responsible for the situation.
Even in this case, the responsibility for accountability was transferred to another institution.
The laboratory addressed the Ministry of Energy and Industry, which said that it has no competence regarding the issue of waste produced by private companies.
"Regarding industrial waste from private enterprises currently operating in the territory of Metalurgjik, we inform you that waste issues are followed by authorities under the Ministry of Environment, imposing obligations upon obtaining an environmental permit for the exercise of their activity. They are monitored by these authorities continuously, taking into consideration the implementation of the legislation in force on waste, according to which "The polluter pays", - underlines the ministry.
Despite the institutional table tennis, the Regional Environment Agency, Elbasan, said that there is still no concrete plan for the management of industrial waste.
"There is no plan or anything concrete for the systematization of the slag heaps. There is a possibility that they will all be taken by the river Shkumbin, even today its water may be polluted.
The area around Metalurgjik is at risk, as it has always been like this", - said the director of the agency, Lutfi Gjinishi.
The laboratory also contacted the Environment and Forestry Inspectorate, Elbasan.
Acting chief inspector, Gazmend Sadiku, said that the waste problem is early.
"I don't know, I haven't been on the ground to say there is a risk or there is no risk for the residents. The waste problem is not today's, but it has existed for years. So far we have had no complaints from residents. As for the level that the pollution has reached, I have no information, I don't know what to say", - said Sadik.
The laboratory also contacted the metal smelting and steel production company about this concern. Institution, which is known as one of the most active in the Metallurgical area.
The name of this company was mentioned as a problem for pollution in the area by most of the people the Laboratory interviewed.
Company representatives Institution however, they said that they do not deposit slag by the river Shkumbin, but have created a special space for this purpose.
"It must be said that the waste produced by our activity is non-hazardous waste, such as slag waste and ocaline. We currently send this waste to Germany.
We produce about 45.000-48.000 tons of slag every year", - the Turkish company declares.
But, despite the appearance of state institutions and companies operating in the area, the ranges of industrial waste remain in place, unmoved, growing larger every day, as well as the failure of all to provide a normal life to the residents. of this area.
