Ovčarevo Shooting Range (Travnik Training Centre)
Above remediation valueMedia tested
Summary
Ovčarevo Shooting Range is an active military site near Travnik — an open, largely undeveloped firing range owned by the Ministry of Defence, with only partly controlled access. Soil was tested. Lead, copper, cadmium, arsenic and zinc reached levels indicating a need for cleanup along the firing line and in the target zone — the typical signature of shooting-range ammunition. Several other metals, compounds linked to combustion, and legacy pesticides were above the level at which soil is no longer considered clean, while pollutants associated with oil, solvents and industrial oils stayed within the prescribed limits.
Assessment findings
Findings of concern
- Lead, copper, cadmium, arsenic and zinc reached levels in the shooting-range soil — along the firing line and in the target zone — that indicate a need for cleanup, consistent with the accumulation of metals from shooting ammunition.
- Cobalt, nickel and selenium were in the soil above the level at which land is no longer considered clean.
- Surface soil also contained compounds associated with combustion, and legacy pesticides from earlier use, above the level at which soil is no longer considered clean.
- The site lies on permeable karst limestone–dolomite terrain with partly open access; rainfall, surface runoff and dust raised during shooting can mobilise metals toward the local drainage of the river Lašva basin and toward groundwater.
Positive findings
- Pollutants associated with oil, solvents and industrial oils were within the prescribed limits in the soil.
- Chromium, mercury and molybdenum were within the prescribed limits in the soil.
- No permanent watercourse crosses the site and it is not within a mapped flood zone, so direct transport of contamination by a watercourse is less likely.
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
- 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.
