A public beach in the Croatian town of Solina is apparently full of asbestos. Nevertheless, ignorant families regularly swim in the water.
Solina – The village of Vranjic is picturesquely located on the Adriatic, so beautiful that the district of Solina has already been nicknamed “Little Venice”. But highly toxic asbestos is hidden in the idyll on Kosica Beach. A citizens' initiative has been warning for four years that the public beach is contaminated with asbestos. It is not fenced in and is freely accessible. Unknowing holidaymakers often get lost in the toxic sand. There is an urgent need to renovate the beach - a citizens' initiative is fighting for it to at least be fenced off.
Beach in picturesque Croatian town contaminated with asbestos: Initiative calls for protection for holidaymakers and locals
As the portal morski.hr
reports, among others
, there had been an asbestos dump near the beach in the municipality of Solina near Split for years. The citizens' initiative denounces the fact that waste from a cement factory was discharged directly into the sea for decades. Under the leadership of Marijana Grubić, the initiative now wants to fence off the affected area and mark it as an asbestos dump.
The citizens' initiative claims that the solution to the problem will be officially delayed for 15 years. As
morski.hr
quotes director Grubić, the last two answers to the request to cordon off the area were “ridiculous and humiliating.” Officials say the beach doesn't need to be fenced off because the quality of the water is adequate. For Grubić, it is a horror every time the city of Solina advertises the beach and she sees children playing there.
Some rules and bans have already been put in place on Croatian beaches - there is a huge outcry.
Mayor contradicts asbestos allegations: Beach on the Adriatic supposedly clean
As is further reported, the mayor of Solina, Dalibor Ninčević, has already given the all-clear. Accordingly, the environmental protection bond is responsible for the rehabilitation of the beach. The former cement factory is said to have been renovated in 2007, followed by the renovation of another asbestos landfill in 2011. In the final phase, the beach in Kosica was cleaned. According to the mayor, some investigations have shown that asbestos can no longer be detected on the beach.
However, things sound different when it comes to the environmental protection fund. Accordingly, investigations were last carried out in 2019. It was found that there is asbestos-containing construction rubble on land on almost 1.46 hectares, and on the sea side even on 4.84 hectares. However, it took a lot of time to obtain approval for cleaning. The renovation work is scheduled to begin in the future after the building laws have been enacted - a specific date is not given.
The Federal Environment Agency in Germany classifies asbestos as a clearly carcinogenic substance. “A characteristic feature of asbestos is its ability to break down into fine fibers, which continue to split lengthwise and can therefore be easily inhaled,” it says. The mineral fibers were previously used primarily for building houses because they were said to provide particularly good insulation. They can remain in the lungs and cause major damage. The most common resulting disease is asbestosis, a hardening of the lungs caused by scar tissue. (
approx
.)