Environment

Lignite plant – major cause of massive air pollution in Tuzla

Photo: SEE Bankwatch Network

Published

November 2, 2016

Comments

comments icon

0

Share

Published:

November 2, 2016

Comments:

comments icon

0

Share

The air pollution in the industrial town of Tuzla,  has been above legally allowed limits on 12 out of 20 consecutive days, according to joint measurements performed by CEE Bankwatch Network and the Tuzla-based environmental group Center for Ecology and Energy (Centar za ekologiju i energiju).

The town in the north-eastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) houses a lignite power plant. Tuzla is the first in a series of locations two organisations aim to cover in their air quality measurement tour. It is a part of an effort to provide an independent set of data on air quality in various locations across the Balkans, according to the Bankwatch report.

Meanwhile, Elektroprivreda BiH, the state-owned power utility company,  has plans to build a new 450 MW unit at the lignite-powered Tuzla Thermal Power Plant (Termoelektrana Tuzla). The “Tuzla 7” facility is meant to replace two of the four such units, but will also increase the plant’s overall capacity.

The new unit would almost certainly contribute to the heavy air pollution in the area, since the power plant is awkwardly situated at the western part of the city, with regular western wind carrying smog across the valley. Tuzla is regarded as a place with poor air quality, with every winter period bringing higher levels of particulate matter (i.e. fine dust), which are not shown in the official reports on air pollution monitoring in the Tuzla Canton.

The numbers are worrying, according to data reported by Bankwatch: the values of the PM10 were regularly above the Federation of BiH legislation of 65 µg/m³ limits, with peaks at over 300 µg/m³. The numbers tend to rocket after 7:00 PM local time, as a possible indicator that dust filters are turned off overnight. With 12 days crossing the legal limits of pollution out of 20 days monitored, Tuzla almost certainly sees well over 35 days a year on which the average concentration exceeds the legal limit for PM10.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has adopted air quality legislation on par with the European Union standards. The Center for Ecology and Energy, however, said that the enforcement of the laws is weak, and called authorities to force polluters to respect their duties and protect health and lives of the population.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

Three cities reviving protests against Rio Tinto lithium project Jadar in Serbia

Three cities reviving protests against Rio Tinto’s lithium project in Serbia

20 July 2025 - Opponents of Rio Tinto's plan to mine and process a lithium and boron ore called jadarite in western Serbia held a protest in Loznica

bih epbih waste incineration tpp tuzla trial

BiH’s power utility EPBiH cancels waste co-incineration trial in Tuzla coal plant

18 July 2025 - Power utility Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine aborted a waste co-incineration test at its Tuzla coal power plant

Belgrade in focus challenges and solutions for sustainable urban development Ivan Gazdic cms

Belgrade in focus: challenges and solutions for sustainable urban development

17 July 2025 - The author of the feature is Ivan Gazdić, Attorney at Law and Partner at Petrikić & Partneri AOD in cooperation with CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz

Successful completion of the WISE serbia mentorship program trust, support, and personal transformation

WISE Serbia mentorship program successfully completed: trust, support, and personal growth

24 June 2025 - The first mentorship program of the WISE Serbia women’s network in sustainable energy, the green economy, and climate action was successfully concluded with an event held in Belgrade