“From the farmers’ point of view, the remediation is not finished, and it will be difficult to prove the damage.” Photo: Luka Cjuha
Farmers and fishermen who were flooded with concrete water are demanding compensation for the damage
The construction of the second Divača-Koper track is in the target plane, and the farmers in the valley under Dekani and the fishermen of the Koper Fishing Family are dissatisfied with the solution to the pollution of the environment and watercourses with concrete water from the construction sites.
“This is the best farmland in the country, with farmers growing the best food in our area. It is absurd that concrete water pollution happened right there for four years. The concrete plant for the second track was built in the immediate vicinity of agricultural land in Dekani, and the sewage treatment plant apparently did not work as it should, as the concrete water flowed into the canals and melioration ditches right next to the agricultural land, as well as into the groundwater. “Concrete has a high pH value, which makes quality farming impossible, and probably also contains metal residues that do not belong on agricultural land,” she warned. Urška Klančaragricultural consultant from the Agricultural and Forestry Institute Nova Gorica.
Farmers warned various inspectors, but for a long time no one took action. “After the construction is finished, the farmers demand that the contractor clean the canals and remove the concrete silt, which in some places is up to half a meter in the canals. We ask 2TDK to prove with soil analysis after cleaning that the pollution has been completely removed,” says Urška Klančar. The contractors have already carried out the cleaning of the canals, but it is paradoxical that everywhere they were not allowed to interfere with the banks of the canals, because there is the living environment of the protected urha frog, said the agricultural consultant. “From the farmers’ point of view, the remediation is not finished, and it will be difficult to prove the damage,” he says.
Fish in concrete water
The concrete water also flowed into watercourses in the area of the rivers Rižana, Glinščica and Osapska reka.
Miha Bertoka member of the Koper fishing family, showed a bottle with cloudy water from the Podravje stream, which he filled after contamination with untreated waste water from a construction site in February this year. “Life has almost disappeared from the vast majority of watercourses in four years. We have been warning about the problem of untreated construction water since 2022, but the pollution continued. The environmental inspection also found irregularities in the operation of the contractor’s treatment plant. We request that an independent expert check the situation and assess the damage. As a concessionaire, we have the right to have the investor and the contractor reimburse us for the resulting damage,” emphasized Miha Bertok.
According to Bertok, 2TDK answers to the fishing family that they monitored the situation, that there were no exceeded values, and that there were no fish deaths, and that therefore the legislation does not provide for compensation.
After the construction is finished, the destroyed roads will be repaired
The municipality of Koper can look forward to the repair of the roads that are under attack during the construction of the second track. These days, the municipality of Koper and 2TDK finally signed an agreement on compensatory measures that the investor will provide in the area of the municipality of Koper after the construction of the second track and later after the construction of the two-track line is completed; it is mainly about the resurfacing and arrangement of municipal roads in the area of Škofij, Dekanov and Črne Kal.
The cracks on the houses will be inspected again
There is also progress in determining the damage that the residents of approximately 100 houses are said to have suffered as a result of mining at the second track. 2TDK and the contractor Kolektor CPG initially denied that the many cracks in the houses of the surrounding residents were caused by blasting. In the end, however, they listened, so that in the coming months the selected independent expert, the company Institute for Real Estate Sciences, will once again thoroughly inspect all houses in the affected area and documents and assess the damage. The re-evaluation will take several months, says the coordinator for monitoring the construction of the second track of the Municipality of Koper, Marinko Hrvatin.
