{"id":19698,"date":"2018-04-30T11:27:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T09:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/coal-combustion-in-kostolac-every-fourth-day-not-for-breathing\/"},"modified":"2019-09-05T14:15:20","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T12:15:20","slug":"coal-combustion-in-kostolac-every-fourth-day-not-for-breathing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/coal-combustion-in-kostolac-every-fourth-day-not-for-breathing\/","title":{"rendered":"Coal combustion: In Kostolac every fourth day not for breathing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAt about 9 p.m., while the second shift was digging coal from Kostolac, Goran Stevi\u0107<\/strong> was seized by a choking fit. Suffering from asthma in the course of three previous years, this time he was admitted to hospital because of heart problems. He was soon subjected to a surgery and all four of his cardiac valves were replaced.
\n\t
\n\tAs an excavator operator employed with Serbian Electric Power Industry<\/em>, Stevi\u0107 was for twenty years excavating waste rock and coal in the village of Drmno, in the east of Serbia, by the thermal power plant Kostolac<\/em>. Before contracting serious illness in 2014, he was exposed to vapours of toxic substances such as carbon-dioxide and sulphur-dioxide at work.
\n\t
\n\t\u201cI first contracted chronic bronchitis, then bronchial asthma, and then this all affected my heart valves and I did not have any flow of venal and arterial blood; I had choking fits and could not live without an oxygen bottle\u201d, explains Stevi\u0107. \u201cThe environment at the mine site was polluted, this is a disaster\u201d.
\n\t
\n\tWhen he was granted disability retirement in July 2017, Stevi\u0107 was 39 years of age.
\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\"\"<\/a>\n\t

\n\t\tBefore the heart valve surgery, Goran Stevi\u0107<\/strong> was working as an excavator operator in the coal mine Drmno for 20 years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tInhabitants of Brani\u010devo District, which comprises Po\u017earevac, Kostolac, and seven smaller municipalities, are becoming increasingly sick, as indicated in the 2016 Analysis of health status of the population of the District carried out by Public health institute Po\u017earevac<\/em>.
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\n\tIn 2016, as many as 29.4% of the population of the District were treated for respiratory diseases, which is far above the Republic average of 16.8%; according to the Analysis, this had also been the major issue in the previous ten years. Vascular diseases are the prevailing cause of death with 58.4% of the deceased in 2016 as compared to 51.7% at the Republic level.
\n\t
\n\tThose who seek medical treatment in Kostolac mostly come for cardiac-vascular problems, while the number of patients with respiratory diseases is considerably lower, says doctor Borka \u0160utovi\u0107<\/strong>, who manages the Kostolac branch of the Primary healthcare centre Po\u017earevac<\/em>. She adds that a large number of their patients are employees with Serbian Electric Power Industry<\/em> (EPS).
\n\t
\n\t\u0160utovi\u0107 explains that the operation of the thermal power plant affects health of the local population, but also mentions other factors which cause the diseases: smoking, allergies, and genetic predispositions.
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\n\tAccording to EPS data on concentrations of harmful substances in the four settlements in the vicinity of Kostolac <\/em>thermal power plant, in the period between June 2016 and February 2018, analyzed by Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia<\/em> (CINS), permitted limit values for some substances were exceeded every fourth day on the average.
\n\t
\n\tThus, in the days when concentrations of sulphur-dioxide (SO2) and suspended particles PM10 were measured, values exceeding permitted limits were established as many as 118 times. The measurements were conducted by the Public health institute Po\u017earevac<\/em> and the Mining institute<\/em>.
\n\t
\n\tIn most cases, on the occasion of 106 measurements, PM10 particle levels exceeded the permitted limit value \u2013 in October 2017 even up to 5.4 times. Among air polluting substances, these particles are most harmful for human health, as, when inhaled, they stay in the deepest parts of lungs and cause asthma and other respiratory and cardiac diseases. More than one third of such cases occurred in the village of Drmno.
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\n\tBesides these particles, SO2 values were exceeded by several times; SO2 contributes to occurrence of acid rains, respiratory and cardiac diseases, with children, the elderly, asthmatic patients, and patients with chronic pulmonary diseases as the most vulnerable categories. In the course of 50 measurements, concentrations of heavy metals from PM10, arsenic and nickel, were above the annual average. Effects of arsenic are connected with tumors and cardiac diseases, while nickel may cause cancer and skin allergies.
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\n\tMeasurements of pollutants at the source of pollution, the thermal power plant, were carried out by experts from the Institute for nuclear sciences Vin\u010da<\/em>. In all of their three reports excessive emissions of PM10 and SO2 were established, with SO2 levels higher than the permitted by 10.5 to almost 15 times.
\n\t
\n\tGoran Stevi\u0107, lives in the vicinity of the lime disposal site in Drmno, and close to the coal mine with his wife and two daughters, aged six and eight. He fears for health of his children who, as he says, suffer from bronchitis.
\n\t
\n\t\u201cThere is dust, there are allergies, they get tired, they breathe hardly, they are always sick, I spend more time at doctors\u2019 than at home (…) The air is heavy, in the morning we can hardly breathe because of the ash disposal site, these are all heavy, polluted fumes\u201d, explains Stevi\u0107. \u201cBecause of my surgery, I take six different drugs in the morning, six in the evening, and two at noon\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tThose who live will tell the story<\/h2>\n

\n\t
\n\tThe thermal power plant Kostolac <\/em>is the second in Serbia by its size, providing about 17% of the total necessary power to the population. Since the end of the 1980s, it has been operating using coal from the mines in the vicinity of the thermal power plant. One of the mines encircles the village of Drmno, which is why its inhabitants are faced with significant issues.
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\n\tWhen the weather is windy, the situation is difficult. The inhabitants of Drmno the CINS journalist interviewed said that on such days it is hard to see anything in Kostolac, and that they stay in their houses while coal dust and ash falls on their crops. They alsocomplain about everyday pollution, saying they cannot breathe or live normally. Noise caused by work of engines presents another issue. Their houses are cracked because water is drained from the mine which causes soil settlement, while disposal of waste rock causes strong vibrations. Many have moved, while others request EPS to relocate them.
\n\t
\n\t\u201cLife here is difficult\u201d, says Goran Stevi\u0107. \u201cThose who live will tell the story.\u201d
\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t

\n\t\tGrowing disease and mortality rates<\/h2>\n\t

\n\t\tThe 2016 Analysis of health status of the population of Brani\u010devo district, which includes Drmno and Kostolac, composed by Public health institute Po\u017earevac<\/em>, indicates to the growing issue in this area. Between 2007 and 2016, the number of patients grew by 13.4%, with patients with respiratory diseases as the most numerous, while vascular diseases presented the major cause of death.
\n\t\t
\n\t\tOut of the total number of patients recorded at primary health centres in 2016, as many as 29.4% suffered from respiratory diseases, while 11.51% patients suffered from vascular diseases (high blood pressure, cardiac arrest, angina pectoris, etc.).
\n\t\t
\n\t\tData from the 2016 Healthcare-statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Serbia, published by the Public health institute of Serbia<\/em> \u201cDr Milan Jovanovi\u0107 Batut\u201d, indicates that respiratory diseases occur considerably less frequently at the Republic level, with 16.8% individuals treated, while 18.5% patients were treated in primary healthcare centers throughout Serbia for vascular diseases.
\n\t\t
\n\t\tAs many as 25% of children up to six years of age in Brani\u010devo district suffered from throat and tonsil infections; following this group, almost 19% suffered from infections of upper respiratory tract. Same as in the previous years, children of school age (7-18 years of age) are faced most issues with respiratory organs; thus, in 2016, every second child was treated from such problems.
\n\t\t
\n\t\tThe Healthcare-statistical Yearbook indicates that the number of the deceased due to pulmonary diseases throughout Serbia is on the rise.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tAccording to his statement, other mine workers also suffered from health problems, but they did not complain because they did not want to lose their jobs.
\n\t
\n\tEPS and the company branch – Thermal power plant and mines Kostolac <\/em>\u2013 did not accept to talk to the CINS journalist, having also failed to reply to the questions filed prior to the publishing of this story.
\n\t
\n\tThis company is obliged to conduct air quality measurements at the source of pollution, i.e. smoke stack of the thermal power plant. However, on the occasion of filing an earlier set of data to CINS, EPS stated that their data on harmful emissions is not valid, because they do not have approval of the Ministry of environmental protection for continuous measurements. When asked why they did not issue approval to EPS, the Ministry stated that the company filed a request for approval in October 2014, but that the request was rejected because EPS did not even submit all the necessary documents within the subsequently determined deadline.
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\n\tAs it does not conduct valid independent measurements, EPS is obliged to commission periodical measurements at the source of pollution twice a year; in 2016 and 2017, these measurements were conducted by the Institute for nuclear sciences Vin\u010da<\/em>. Besides, quality of ambiance air is monitored in the impact sphere of Kostolac <\/em>thermal power plant; so far, it has been measured in the four nearby settlements by the Public health institute Po\u017earevac<\/em> and the Mining institute<\/em>.
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\n\tThe Institute from Vin\u010da measured the quality of air in May and December 2016, as well as in November 2017. The Public health institute and Mining institute<\/em> measured pollution in eight places in the vicinity of the thermal power plant for a certain number of days each month; SO2, soot, and precipitating substances containing heavy metals were measured in four places, while concentrations of PM 10 particles and metals within them \u2013 nickel, arsenic, cadmium, and lead in the remaining four places.
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\n\tBetween April and August 2017 there were no measurements, as EPS had not conducted a public procurement procedure in a timely manner.
\n\t
\n\tMeasurements of the Institute in Vin\u010da indicated to exceeded limit concentrations of PM10 and SO2 each time.
\n\t
\n\tPollution around the thermal power plant was, among others, measuredin two places in the village of Drmno. In the course of 614 days, as many as 44 cases of violation of the permitted level of SO2 and PM10 were recorded, sometimes up to by 2.4 times more than permitted. The largest number of measurements \u2013 484 \u2013 was conducted by the Drmno outpatient clinic, where issues were the least numerous, while at the measuring site P.D. Georad<\/em>, where permitted PM10 were exceeded much more frequently, the concentrations were measured in the course of 130 days, or eight days a month on the average.
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\n\tThe issue with SO2 is to be solved by the commissioning of the desulphurization system which was constructed in summer 2017. According to the last report of the Institute in Vin\u010da, the system did not start operating by November of the same year.
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\n\tEPS did not reply to CINS whether desulphurization started and when.
\n\t
\n\tAlthough desulphurization is to regulate levels of SO2 and mercury which gets precipitated in soil and water as a result of coal combustion, this process slightly increases the amount of emissions of carbon-dioxide (CO2) which harms the atmosphere and affects climate changes.<\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tExpensive and slow loan implementation<\/h2>\n

\n\t
\n\tIn 2011, Serbia took a loan of more than \u20ac224 million from the Chinese Exim bank<\/strong> on behalf of EPS, for the purpose of revitalization and minimization of SO2 emissions from the existing blocks of Kostolac B<\/em>. The loan was to be used by mid- 2017, but the deadline was extended till the end of 2018. For this delay, EPS has paid more than \u20ac4.2 million of commitment fees for non-withdrawn funds.
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\n\tThe fee is accounted for besides regular interest and mostly depends on the amount of loan and dynamics after which the money is used. If the loan is not used in a timely manner, the amount of commitment fee is also larger.
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\n\tSerbia took another loan from Exim bank<\/em>. For construction of the third block of thermal power plant Kostolac B <\/em>and extension of Drmno<\/em> coal mine, which will additionally increase environmental pollution and affect human health.
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\n\tIn December 2014, Serbian Government took a loan of somewhat less than \u20ac487 million from the Chinese state bank, while execution of the loan \u2013 and the debt repayment \u2013 was on EPS. The state guaranteed the loan repayment with the budget of the Republic of Serbia; in case of dispute, it got committed to observe Chinese laws, while a Chinese company was selected as the main contractor, as indicated by an earlier investigation conducted by CINS.
\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\"\"<\/a>\n\t

\n\t\tThose who seek treatment in Kostolac mostly suffer from cardio-vascular diseases, says doctor Borka \u0160utovi\u0107<\/strong>, head of the Kostolac branch of the Primary healthcare center Po\u017earevac<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThe project was to be ended in May 2022; however, as EPS has been delayed with the operation from the very beginning, it had to pay the Chinese bank \u20ac3.1 million of commitment fee. This means that EPS paid \u20ac7.3 million of commitment fees for the two loans relating to Kostolac<\/em>.
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\n\tBesides Kostolac<\/em>, Serbia also operates thermal power plants Nikola Tesla<\/em> (TENT) in Obrenovac, which generate more than 50% of electric power and which comprise the major power producers in Southeast Europe. With 3,286 MW of power, these thermal power plants are by more than three times more powerful than those in Kostolac, also emitting harmful gasses.
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\n\tCINS investigation indicates that construction of the desulphurization plant in TENT, for which the amount of \u20ac226 million was borrowed from Japanese International Cooperation Agency, is also delayed. The plant was to start operating in June 2018, but the currently planned deadline with completion of the works is 2022. Commitment fee<\/em> was paid in this case too \u2013 somewhat more than \u20ac449,000 by 31 March 2018.
\n\t
\n\tInhabitants of areas in the vicinity of the thermal power plants are those who suffer the most due to slow implementation of projects which should decrease emissions of harmful gasses.
\n\t
\n\tBojan Dimitrijevi\u0107<\/strong> lives in the vicinity of the coal crushing site for the thermal plant Kostolac B<\/em>. In the course of his conversation with CINS journalists, there is the sound of engines \u2013 coal is being transported from the mine to the crushing plant.
\n\t
\n\t\u201cLife in Drmno is quite poor. Especially when it comes to dust, polluted air\u201d, says Dimitrijevi\u0107.
\n\t
\n\tIn 2015, he felt pain in his chest, caused by pneumonia. He says that when he told the doctor he was from Drmno, she said that it comes \u201cfrom that dirt\u201d.
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\n\t\u201cAnd they say no more. Absolutely nothing more. It is as it is. When we get sick, we go to the hospital in Po\u017earevac, and everybody says we come from a place which is so much polluted\u201d, says Dimitrijevi\u0107.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coal-combusting thermal plants, the main source of air pollution in Serbia, have impact on the number of patients suffering from respiratory and cardiac diseases. Although emissions of harmful substances from Kostolac exceed the permitted limits by up to five times, Serbia continues to invest in unclean lignite as the source of energy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1124,"featured_media":17636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1579,1511,1492],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecology","category-energy","category-investigative-stories","ciTrackContent"],"acf":[],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/1525083689~~Termoelektrana-Kostolac-B,-foto-CINS.jpg","author_additional":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19698"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22177,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19698\/revisions\/22177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}