The Environmental Protection Fund has selected the Split-based company Pomgrad Inženjering to rehabilitate the Kosica peninsula. The Split-based company's bid is worth 3,9 million euros excluding VAT, or 4,9 million euros including VAT, which is almost a million euros less than the estimated value.
As a reminder, this is about the remediation of asbestos pollution of the land and sea areas from the Salonit factory, which produced asbestos-cement products from 1921 to 2006.
The remediation will be carried out in three parts. The deepest part of the sea, from two meters deep downwards, will be covered with a special sand carpet that is "packed" between two layers of fabric (geosynthetic sand carpet with geotextile). This carpet will prevent asbestos particles from rising from the seabed. Over the carpet will be additional protection from small and larger stones (filter layer), with a total thickness of almost a meter.
The transitional part, between two meters below sea level and two meters above sea level, is the most vulnerable because it is hit by waves. There, the protection will be stronger: after the carpet and small stones, large stone blocks (protective stone throwers), each weighing 150 to 250 kilograms, will come. They will protect the peninsula from the impact of waves.
The part of the peninsula where people bathe will be arranged as a beach: over all the protective layers, finely crushed stone 40 centimeters thick will be placed. This will make it look like a regular beach, but with a multi-layered protection underneath to prevent contact with asbestos.
The landward part, from the road towards the sea, will also be covered with layers of earth and stone. This will seal off the entire peninsula.
The works are expected to last 12 months, with an additional two months for technical inspection after completion. The total duration of the contract is 16 months.
The Salonit factory produced asbestos-cement products from 1921 to 2006, and the waste was dumped into the sea for decades, creating a peninsula. The contaminated area is almost 1,5 hectares on land and almost five hectares in the sea. Around 400 people died in Vranjic and the surrounding area from asbestos-related diseases.
Photo: Tender documentation
