February the 18th, 2024 – An extremely unimpressive record has been set by Slavonski Brod in Eastern Croatia, as the sky above it is apparently the most polluted in the entire EU.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, an analysis by the European Environmental Agency showed that the sky above Slavonski Brod is the most polluted in the European Union, and that it is full of dangerous floating PM2.5 particles. This winter alone, Slavonski Brod was in “the purple” an extremely concerning eleven times, which is the highest level of pollution.
“Last year, Slavonski Brod finished in the infamous first place in the entire European Union. Nowy Sącz in Poland, which was the previous champion, did better than Slavonski Brod,” explained Petar Tot-Đerđ, acting manager of the president of the Eco-Integral Association for Dnevnik Nova TV.
No one can say for sure why there is such a concentration of dangerous particles in the air above Slavonski Brod. Just across the Sava River in Bosanski Brod sits an oil refinery, however, and that refinery was considered to be the cause of all pollution problems in Slavonski Brod. With that being said, that particular refinery has apparently not been operating for a long time.
“I can’t say that it’s definitely not in function, but I have information that it isn’t,” said the mayor of Slavonski Brod, Mirko Duspara.
The other widely held assumption is that 40 percent of the pollution in Slavonski Brod comes from across the border in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and another big factor is the immediate proximity of the motorway.
In order to reduce these very worrying levels of pollution, Slavonski Brod has installed gas in kindergartens and schools, constructed proper bicycle paths, and ensured ecological lighting. Even with all of those efforts, that hasn’t been enough, which is why locals have been sending letters expressing their concerns to government bodies for decades.
