The carcinogenic hexavalent chromium from the Jegunovce dump beseting people’s health continiously, 29 February 2022

Since the start of operation of Jugohrom industrial complex, in 1955, at Jegunovce in the northwest of now North Macedonia, little attention was paid to the protection of the environment, especially to the resulting pollution of the underground and the surface waters in this part of the Polog Region. The residue from the chromite ore processing and the slag from the ferroalloys production in Jugohrom was transferred to the industrial landfill, states the scientific study “The Influence of the HEK Jugohrom – Jegunovce’s landfill on the quality of surface and underground waters,” that was conducted by the Hydrometeorology Service 20 years ago...

Meta.mk went to the village of Jegunovce...and visited the Jugohrom complex and the industrial landfill that was created during the decades of this giant’s operation. Around 850,000 tons of industrial waste lie in the landfill near the Jegunovce railway station, which covers an area of around 80,000 square meters. Among the chemical waste disposed, there are chromates of calcium, aluminum, and sodium.

Still, what is most worrisome is the presence of around 7,500 tons of hexavalent chromium which is carcinogenic and dangerous for the people and the environment. Only 11,000 square meters of the area of the dump has been covered with a protective foil, which should stop the seeping of dangerous chemicals into the underground waters. The remaining surface of the dump is left unprotected and the consequences of this lack of caution can only be assumed.

The industrial landfill in Jegunovce is one of the environmental hot spots in our country. In order to control the drainage from the landfill, in 2003 a drainage system was built and the pump stations are capturing the drainage and the waters from the dump and are carrying them through pipes to the wastewater treatment plant within the Jugohrom’s yard.

Well, this would have been the desired situation, with the pollution from the waters from the landfill stopped altogether, but Meta.mk saw on the spot a liquid with characteristic yellow-orange and dark red color appears near the pumping station at the landfill, a liquid that is discharged directly into the Vardar River. We felt stench, while the plants that have come into contact with the colored water have been obviously dead for a very, very long time.

The locals from Jegunovce we spoke with told us that when the groundwater rises, the pumps cannot manage to collect all the water that is seeping out from the dump, so the polluted discharge drains directly into the Vardar River. The enormous mound 23 meters high has been fenced off to prevent entry of people and cattle, but still, the location doesn’t have video surveillance or a guard that would be warning people to keep off the dump...