Duška Kosa Landfill
Above remediation valueMedia tested
Summary
Duška Kosa is a non-sanitary municipal dump near Prozor that has been in informal use for about half a century. Waste is pushed over a cliff and slides down a steep slope, a drop of some 40 metres, all the way to the Prozorčica stream at the bottom — a tributary of the river Rama, which lies about 300 metres downstream and has farmland along its banks. Alongside municipal waste, industrial waste (paint and lacquer packaging, aerosol cans) and tyres were observed on site, with frequent open fires. Testing revealed heavy soil contamination: zinc across all the tested soil, and copper and cobalt in the surface layer, were above the level indicating that cleanup is needed; in the deeper soil, selenium was sharply exceeded at one point. The river-Rama water sample nonetheless met all the prescribed limits.
Assessment findings
Findings of concern
- Zinc was above the level indicating that cleanup is needed throughout the tested soil — both the surface and the deeper layer, in places several times over; this is the most widespread severe finding.
- Copper and cobalt were above that cleanup level in the surface soil.
- In the deeper soil, at one point selenium was far above the level indicating that cleanup is needed.
- Cadmium and nickel were above the level at which land is no longer considered clean throughout the tested soil and sediment, and lead in the surface soil.
Positive findings
- The water sample from the river Rama met all the applicable limits.
- Petroleum-related and tar-and-combustion pollutants, mercury and arsenic were within limits in all the soil and sediment samples.
- Chromium and molybdenum were within limits across all the tested soil and sediment.
- The stream sediment was noticeably less contaminated than the soil — cobalt, copper and zinc there did not reach the level requiring cleanup.
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)
- 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.
