Ada Landfill
Above remediation valueMedia tested
Summary
Ada is a large, open, unfenced municipal landfill south of Čapljina, right beside the bed of the river Neretva and within its flood zone. The highly permeable limestone bedrock allows rapid seepage toward the river, and the municipal drinking-water source lies about a kilometre upstream. Informal residents, including children, live on the landfill, and fires are frequent. Preliminary testing revealed more serious contamination: in the soil and the sediment, selenium reached the level indicating that cleanup is needed; long-banned pesticides were found in the surface soil; and in the Neretva itself beside the landfill, cadmium exceeded the water-quality standard.
Assessment findings
Findings of concern
- In the surface soil, in the deeper soil layer and in the sediment, selenium reached the level indicating that cleanup is needed — the most serious finding at the site.
- Cadmium, cobalt, copper, nickel and zinc were above the level at which land is no longer considered clean in the soil and sediment.
- Long-banned agricultural pesticides (the DDT group and related compounds) were also found in the surface soil above that level.
- In the river Neretva beside the landfill, cadmium exceeded the surface-water quality standard; the landfill is open, unfenced and in the flood zone, and in 2024 it was flooded, dispersing waste downstream.
Positive findings
- Lead and chromium were within limits across all the tested soil and sediment.
- Oil-related and combustion-related pollutants were within limits in all the soil and sediment samples.
- The leachate sample collected on the landfill met the applicable discharge limits.
Photo gallery
The project results have been submitted to the competent institutions as a basis for improving regulation and for strategic planning of further activities.
Legal basis
- Decision on the characterization of surface and groundwater, reference conditions and parameters for water status assessment and water monitoring (Official Gazette of FBiH No. 01/14)
- Decree on the conditions for the discharge of wastewater into the environment and public sewerage systems (Official Gazette of FBiH No. 26/20, 96/20, 01/24)
- Rulebook on limit and remediation values of polluting, harmful and hazardous substances in soil (Official Gazette of RS No. 82/21)
Due to the absence of reference values for soil and sediment in the Federation of BiH, the Republika Srpska rulebook is applied as a reference framework to ensure methodological consistency between the entities.
