Mittal installs new filters at Steelworks, Zenica residents not giving up protests, they said this before

ArcelorMittal company in Zenica signed an agreement on Friday, committing to install state-of-the-art filters at the BOF Steelworks, which will reduce air pollution in Zenica.

Despite this, residents of Zenica, gathered around "Eko forum", a non-governmental organization fighting for a better ecological situation in this city since 2008, announced that they will not give up on the protests scheduled for Sunday. They will tell the authorities that they must do more to protect their health and nature.

Željko Perić from "Eko forum" told the Bosnian news agency Patria (NAP) that Mittal has signed many such agreements in Zenica before, but very few have been realized. Citizens have lost trust in the sincerity of this company towards the citizens, and they no longer trust the authorities in Zenica either.

Due to uncontrolled air pollution, residents of Zenica have been living in catastrophic environmental conditions for several years. The concentration of sulfur dioxide in the air exceeds the permissible limits on more than a hundred days a year, which has led to an increased incidence of diseases in the city.

- We do not blame Mittal as much for the catastrophic ecological situation in Zenica - Perić told NAP.

- The biggest culprits are the Bosnian lawmakers. They have created such legal regulations that allow Mittal to pollute our air, and completely legally. Mittal's management says: "Create new legal regulations, and we will abide by them."

Hundreds of Zenica residents will gather in the city center on Sunday, where they will put pressure on local and cantonal authorities, who need to introduce measures for increased environmental protection in Zenica.

Mittal states that the so-called Secondary dedusting of converters in the BOF Steelworks, which they will soon introduce, is the latest in a series of investments aimed at reducing the ecologically unfavorable impact of this plant on the environment, which was launched in 2008, after being closed for almost 20 years. The value of this project, Mittal states, will be around 5.5 million euros, writes Patria.