ZAGREB, July 20, 2018 – Unhappy about the fact that criminal charges against an unidentified perpetrator for a water pollution accident in Slavonski Brod in March were dropped, Mayor Mirko Duspara on Wednesday told a press conference that the way the investigation into the incident was conducted was contentious because it did not incorporate the entire five kilometre route of the gas pipeline where the tests were conducted.
The county prosecutor’s office in Slavonski Brod on Tuesday reported on its web site that it had decided to drop the charges relating to an oil spill into the city’s water system.
“It appears that something happened accidentally and that no one is responsible. We have samples of increased levels of hydrocarbons in the water for three consecutive day. Something can be accidental if it occurs once but if it occurs 12 times over a span of three days at 12 sample sites then that can’t be accidental,” Duspara told the press conference.
He said that he would call for an explanation from the state prosecutor’s office. “This refers to four to five wells, a cafe bar and a water tank. It could be accidental if it was only in one well but not in five,” he said and added that regardless of whether it was accidental or not, citizens have to know the truth.
“Citizens were without drinking water for ten days. This is not an answer as far as we are concerned,” he said and added that the city still hadn’t received a response to the criminal charges filed during the accident when the oil pipeline busted.
Reporters asked Duspara to comment announcements by Ivan Čermak, the owner of the Crodux oil company which conducted the pressure tests on the pipeline, that he was going to sue the Town of Slavonski Brod for defaming his name. “I don’t think anyone defamed Čermak nor the Crodux company. The environment protection inspector established that the company ’caused the accident’ and called them to urgently rehabilitate the ground as the pipeline passes through protected water areas. She called for an urgent analysis of the water,” Duspara said and added that after the request was made, it was established that there was an increased concentration of hydrocarbons in the water.
“This isn’t clear to us. We are calling on the State Prosecutor’s Office (DORH) to explain how something can be accidental 12-13 times and to explain that the accident in Slobodnica has nothing to do with the water pollution without controlling the rest of the pipeline,” Duspara underscored and added that the pipeline has still not been repaired.
He added that the latest tests on the water have shown that citizens were drinking good water and confirmed that the costs caused by the disruption of the provision of water supplies had not been completely offset yet.
