The Durrës Prosecutor’s Office has revealed the decision to impose 33 security measures against administrators of private companies and state officials, following investigations into the illegal management of 102 containers with hazardous waste deposited between Porto Romano and Shën Avlash.

The Durrës Prosecutor’s Office announces that laboratory analyses conducted in Italy revealed that “the waste contained toxic elements that pose a risk to human health and the environment, especially aquatic ecosystems.”

After the expert examination, the Durrës Prosecution Office notes that “we are not simply facing a criminal fact, but a chain of illegal actions that bring serious consequences in several areas such as the environment, health, customs activity, the activity of the authorities for safety and quality in the environment.”

Progress

Faktoje has previously reported on the lack of certified laboratories to conduct analyses of 2,800 tons of suspected hazardous waste. Meanwhile, after a year of procrastination, the Durrës Prosecutor’s Office decided to have the expertise carried out in Italy.

Initially, the Durrës Prosecutor’s Office asked three state institutions, the National Agency for Natural Resources, the Faculty of Geology and Mining, and the Faculty of Natural Sciences, to take samples from these containers and conduct analyses to determine whether the waste was toxic, or “iron oxide” as presented in the documentation by the transportation company “Sokolaj shpk”.

All three of these institutions returned official responses to the Durrës Prosecutor’s Office (previously also to the Fact-Finding Office through requests for information ) that they had neither laboratories nor experts to conduct this expertise.

BAN

The international environmental organization “Basel Action Network” (BAN) based in Seattle, United States, raised concerns that tons of hazardous waste were hidden on the ship “Molivia” that departed from Albania on July 4, 2024 via the Port of Durres. The waste was suspected to have been obtained from the dust of the furnaces of the Kurum company in Elbasan, which operates in the field of processing scrap for iron production.

BAN received information that this ship, along with (Iron Oxide), was transporting EAFD.

The EAFD component is a material that comes from the recycling of steel scrap and contains toxic metal oxides, such as (Cadmium and Chromium), which are considered harmful to health and the environment, which forced the host country Thailand to turn back the waste, returning the ship to Durrës on September 28 of last year.

Porto Romano

Facto reported in October last year that 102 containers suspected of containing toxic waste were located in the eastern part of the Porto Romano industrial area. They are still there.

The area where they are located is lagoonal and any possible leakage and decomposition from long-term storage in the containers could pose a risk both to soil and groundwater contamination, but also directly to residents whose homes are no more than 200 meters away.