The municipal councillors of Vrhnika have several demands, starting with removal of Kemis from their municipality, as they claim such plants should not stand closed to settlements. Foto: BoBo
The municipal councillors of Vrhnika have several demands, starting with removal of Kemis from their municipality, as they claim such plants should not stand closed to settlements. Foto: BoBo

The councillors demanded establishment of a commission for supervision of restoration of the consequences of the fire in the regular and hazardous waste processing plant, which should include two representatives of the local community. Their demand Gorenje and Kemis cover the cost of removal of consequences, and damage, better coordination of the government institutes, and adequate explanations on the magnitude of pollution, and preventive actions for protection of health.

Director of Kemis upset the councillors
Following the session which lasted more than seven hours, the mayor Stojan Jakin expressed his satisfaction with the adopted decisions. "We have exposed inactivity and irregular management, as the absence of communication between individual department caused a lot of problems in Vrhnika, and confusion among its inhabitants," the mayor explained.
A number of questions raised by councillors remains unanswered. "We still haven't been given answers to all our questions, and I hope that now the situation will normalize," mayor Jakin added.
The statement given by Emil Nanut, the director of Kemis, in which he claimed that a part of the consequences the fire caused would be remedied by the company, to the best of its ability, while "mother nature would take care of the rest". According to him, the cause of the fire it is still unknown, and the answer to that question will be given by criminal investigators. Nanut was in favour of establishing a special group to supervise the operation of Kemis, which would include also representatives of local inhabitants.

The Vrhnika municipal councillors expect financial and expert help from the government in remedying the consequences of the fire in Kemis, while the municipality plans to systematically monitor soil contamination, and will allocate a part of the budget for that purpose.

According to the management of Kemis, on May 15, when the fire broke out in the plant for storage and processing of hazardous waste in Vrhnika, 1,402 tonnes of waste was stored there, including 948 tonnes of hazardous waste, and one tonne of pesticides. 456 tonness of hazardous waste burned, or were touched by the fire.

G. K., MMC, Nina Brus, Radio Slovenija; translated by G. K.