{"id":198402,"date":"2026-01-17T14:49:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T12:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=198402"},"modified":"2026-01-17T14:49:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T12:49:22","slug":"ecological-disaster-in-uzice-wastewater-spilled-from-the-landfill-no-one-responded-for-10-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/ecological-disaster-in-uzice-wastewater-spilled-from-the-landfill-no-one-responded-for-10-hours\/","title":{"rendered":"ECOLOGICAL DISASTER IN U\u017dICE: Wastewater spilled from the landfill, no one responded for 10 hours!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Ministry of Environmental Protection announced late last night that a malfunction occurred in the collection shaft of the \u201cDuboko\u201d landfill lagoon near U\u017eice, causing leachate to spill into the Turski Potok stream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The citizens\u2019 association \u201cDa ne di\u0161emo Duboko\u201d (\u201cLet\u2019s Not Breathe Duboko\u201d) reported on its X social media account that more than 800 cubic meters of concentrated contaminated water leaked from the landfill. According to their claims, the relevant authorities only responded after the association filed a complaint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOnly after the report from \u2018Da ne di\u0161emo Duboko\u2019 did the police and municipal inspectors arrive. The acting mayor stated that a pipe had burst, but did not explain why no one addressed the malfunction for ten hours,\u201d the association stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The association had already warned the public in November about the risk of an ecological disaster and urged the management of JKP \u201cDuboko\u201d to urgently implement the measures required by the relevant inspections, warning that inaction could have serious consequences for the environment and human health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-serbiantimes-info wp-block-embed-serbiantimes-info\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"xtK4FwpbI2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/ovo-nije-pitanje-muzike-vec-bunta-cacani-pozivaju-na-protest-zbog-nenamenskog-trosenja-novca-iz-budzeta\/\">&#8222;OVO NIJE PITANJE MUZIKE, VE\u0106 BUNTA&#8220;: \u010ca\u010dani pozivaju na protest zbog nenamenskog tro\u0161enja novca iz bud\u017eeta!<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#132;&#8222;OVO NIJE PITANJE MUZIKE, VE\u0106 BUNTA&#8220;: \u010ca\u010dani pozivaju na protest zbog nenamenskog tro\u0161enja novca iz bud\u017eeta!&#147; &#8212; Serbiantimes.info\" src=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/ovo-nije-pitanje-muzike-vec-bunta-cacani-pozivaju-na-protest-zbog-nenamenskog-trosenja-novca-iz-budzeta\/embed\/#?secret=VKnIL2aCjF#?secret=xtK4FwpbI2\" data-secret=\"xtK4FwpbI2\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a statement late last night, noting that the accident was caused by a malfunction in the collection shaft of the \u201cDuboko\u201d landfill lagoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAccording to the latest information from the authorities provided to the Ministry, the cause of the accident in Turski Potok, where leachate from the \u2018Duboko\u2019 landfill was spilled, was a rupture of the protective balloon in the collection shaft of the lagoon,\u201d the Ministry said on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ministry stated that repair teams have been sent to the site to fix the malfunction as quickly as possible and prevent further consequences, and that they are in constant contact with the Ecological Crime Suppression Unit of the U\u017eice Police Department, whose teams conducted a criminal-technical inspection at the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was also reported that the case has been forwarded to the Republican Water Inspector, who has initiated proceedings under his jurisdiction to determine the facts and any potential violations of regulations. The Basic Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office in U\u017eice has also been informed and will, as stated, involve the Institute of Public Health for water sampling and analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Duboko landfill near U\u017eice was conceived as a regional waste management center to consolidate the needs of nine local municipalities and provide safe, controlled, and long-term waste disposal in accordance with applicable regulations and European standards. The project was presented for years as an example of good practice in municipal infrastructure and environmental protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, shortly after operations began, it became clear that the landfill\u2019s capacity was not aligned with the amount of waste delivered daily. By the mid-2010s, problems with landfill stability, landfill gas emissions, leaks, and landslides were already being recorded, indicating serious deficiencies in design, management, and oversight. Instead of systematically addressing these problems, operations continued with temporary and insufficiently transparent measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the years, certain sections of the landfill were closed, but waste disposal continued without adequate permits and with increased environmental risk. An additional problem arose when key permits expired in 2023, after which the landfill continued operating without a clear legal basis. Despite warnings from experts and authorities, information about the actual state of the landfill was not made public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In February 2024, the construction inspector issued a decision prohibiting landfill operations due to immediate danger to human life and health. However, this decision was neither enforced nor timely published, further deepening suspicions of institutional cover-up. Only a few months later, in May 2024, a large fire broke out within the landfill, causing severe air pollution in U\u017eice and surrounding areas for almost three weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The fire and prolonged presence of smoke triggered strong public reactions, protests, blockades, and legal proceedings, making the Duboko landfill one of the key environmental and political issues in the region. Although the landfill was officially closed in November 2024, the public only learned in December about the prior inspection decision that had prohibited its operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">MORE TOPICS:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/humanost-na-delu-studenti-u-blokadi-subotice-prikupili-pomoc-za-13-ugrozenih-porodica-foto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">HUMANITY IN ACTION: Students in the blockade of Subotica collected aid for 13 vulnerable families! 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(PHOTO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/today-we-celebrate-little-christmas-heres-what-this-holiday-represents-and-what-customs-to-practice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">TODAY WE CELEBRATE LITTLE CHRISTMAS: Here\u2019s what this holiday represents and what customs to practice!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>Source<\/strong><\/strong>:Nova,&nbsp;<strong>Foto:<\/strong>&nbsp;Nova<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ministry of Environmental Protection announced late last night that a malfunction occurred in the collection shaft of the \u201cDuboko\u201d landfill lagoon near U\u017eice, causing leachate to spill into the Turski Potok stream. The citizens\u2019 association \u201cDa ne di\u0161emo Duboko\u201d (\u201cLet\u2019s Not Breathe Duboko\u201d) reported on its X social media account that more than 800 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2169,"featured_media":198403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[10744,3754,113,10745,4596,3812,8075],"class_list":["post-198402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-serbia","tag-duboko","tag-ekologija","tag-srbija","tag-turski-potok","tag-uzice","tag-vesti","tag-voda","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198402"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198436,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198402\/revisions\/198436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}