The Croatian city of Split is a popular tourist magnet - including a nearby beach. However, locals complain about asbestos pollution.
Picturesque cities, breathtaking national parks and idyllic bays and beaches: Croatia is known as a holiday destination and is also very popular among Germans. The cultural metropolis of Split with Diocletian's Palace in particular attracts a large number of tourists every year. (Escapades are not welcome, however.) Many visitors like to end the afternoon on a nearby beach - including Plaža Kozica north of Split near the village of Vranij. But apparently caution is called for: a local citizens' initiative denounces that the coastal section is contaminated with asbestos. The Croatian portal
Morski
reports about this .
Asbestos-contaminated beach near Split
According to the citizens' initiative, the asbestos comes from a factory that had direct access to the sea and had released the carcinogenic substance there for years. This no longer exists, as the report states. The citizens' initiative speaks of Kozica as an "asbestos dump" where many unsuspecting bathers swim, sunbathe and small children play in the summer. Marijana Grubić, the head of the citizens' initiative, criticizes that there is no mention of the asbestos problem anywhere on the beach and there are no warning signs at all. She calls for the beach to be rehabilitated or at least for the area to be fenced off and designated as an asbestos area.
The mayor of Solina, Dalibor Ninčević, counters that no asbestos could be detected on the beach, as the Croatian portal
Morski
reports. The water quality is good. In addition, the city is not responsible for Kozica and can therefore neither fence off the coastal section nor prevent citizens from swimming. However, a renovation of the beach is planned and then the required fences will be added.
For the representatives of the citizens' initiative, this is absurd: "We constantly demand that the contaminated asbestos dump be fenced off with a warning about the danger, immediately and without delay," said Grubić. In addition, it was already promised in 2016 that the renovation should begin in the summer of 2017, as Marin Mandić from the citizens' initiative notes
– but nothing like that has happened since then. Instead, Grubić is sure that numerous inspections, ministries, the state supervisory authority and the Environmental Protection Fund will continue to ensure that the solution to the problem will be delayed for the next 15 years. So locals and tourists will probably still have to decide for themselves whether they currently feel comfortable visiting the beach.
Why is asbestos so dangerous?
Asbestos is a clearly carcinogenic substance, as the Federal Environment Agency writes. Its fine fibers could be easily inhaled and remain in the lungs for a long time. This creates scar tissue, which leads to lung hardening. Lung cancer or a tumor of the lung or peritoneum can also be the result of asbestos fibers that have caused irritation in the lungs or have migrated to the pleura or peritoneum.