Lead Found in Blood of 44 Tested Residents of Vareš

(Patria) - Health examinations of the population in the Vareš area have shown shocking results, as the presence of lead in the blood was detected in all tested individuals, announced the NGO Fojničani.

All 44 analyzed blood samples from individuals of different generations tested positive for the heavy metal, which causes serious health consequences, and as many as 17 individuals had values recorded that require immediate medical intervention.

"We have informed all competent institutions and ministries at the federal and cantonal levels and requested the urgent prescription of measures to manage this situation. We cannot respond to this alone at the local level," Ahmed Memić, director of the Vareš Health Center, told the local newspaper Bobovac.

Memić warns that a systemic blood analysis of the entire population of the wider endangered area is necessary, as so far, samples have mainly been analyzed from individuals living near the tailings pond of the DPM Metals mine in the Vareš villages of Pržići and Daštansko.

Blood sampling was carried out in agreement with this Canadian investor, who took over the mine and the company Adriatic Metals a few months ago in a transaction valued at approximately 1.3 billion US dollars. From this transaction, the local community in Vareš, Zenica-Doboj Canton, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina have not earned a single mark.

Instead of revenue, it appears that Vareš and Zenica-Doboj Canton could now face severe and long-term health consequences.

The president of the local community of Pržići, Mario Mirčić, points out that residents have warned about the need for health monitoring from the beginning and that the results confirm the justification of these demands.

"After the public hearing organized by Eastern Mining at the beginning of 2020, then under the leadership of Miloš Bošnjaković, a citizens' assembly was held where the local community gave conditional consent to the project of exploitation and processing of lead, zinc, and barite ore, with eight clearly defined demands, including mandatory blood sampling of the population. This was not done then, nor afterwards, when Adriatic Metals began production. All our demands remained a dead letter on paper," stated Mirčić.

The Institute for Health and Food Safety of Zenica, which is currently the only one to have responded concretely to the appeals from the Vareš Health Center, analyzed water from the two main water sources for the area of the mentioned villages.

The analyses showed that there was no presence of lead in the water, which raises doubts among the affected population that the source of contamination is in airborne particles and dust associated with the truck transport of ore and tailings.

"Although some have tried to shift responsibility to the work of the pre-war mine, it should be clearly emphasized that some of the tested residents were not even born at the time of its closure," Mirčić added.

The alarming findings of lead presence in the blood of Vareš residents raise a series of serious questions about the responsibility of the competent ministries that issue concessions, grant permits, and are supposed to protect the interests and health of citizens. Less than a month ago, 50 civil society organizations and local communities from the Krivaja river basin sent an open request to the Prime Minister and the Government of Zenica-Doboj Canton to terminate the concession for the exploration and exploitation of chrome ore in the Duboštica–Tribija area, owned by the aforementioned Miloš Bošnjaković.

This is another planned mine in the municipality of Vareš, the opening of which could have far more serious consequences for the environment and human health, especially in the Krivaja river basin in the municipalities of Olovo and Zavidovići.

In their request, civil society organizations and local communities warned the Prime Minister and the Government of Zenica-Doboj Canton about the dangers of high-risk chrome exploitation, as well as the non-compliance with the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH and the Law on the Temporary Prohibition of Disposal of State Property. There has been no response from the authorities yet.

And while warnings and evidence of high-risk mining projects and violations of the law are piling up, this local newspaper writes that the authorities of Zenica-Doboj Canton continue to ignore the demands of concerned citizens, even in light of the extremely serious health situation in Vareš, which, they add, would likely require the declaration of a state of emergency.