Bukova, the landfill that continues to concern Ohrid residents and tourists

Ohrid residents and tourists have faced smoke and a strong odor coming from the Bukova landfill, where the city sends its waste, for almost the entire summer. Although it is located around 20 kilometers from Ohrid, the effects of the pollution are also felt in the city. Fires frequently break out at the landfill, while last week the security service caught three people who had entered without permission and were carrying out activities that could have caused a fire. The case was referred to the police, while the Prosecutor’s Office ordered their detention for 30 days due to the risk of escape and the possibility of influencing witnesses during the proceedings.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the three people went to Bukova on September 17 in a truck loaded with waste. They are suspected of having started burning cables and cable waste to separate the copper wires. This process caused smoke and released dangerous substances into the air. The Ohrid Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation against them for the criminal offense of “Endangering the environment and nature.”

The public utility company “Komunalec” warns that any fire at the landfill could have serious consequences for citizens’ health and safety.

Vanço Kostoski of the Ohrid public utility company “Komunalec” said that the landfill would be monitored continuously. “The entire landfill will be under 24-hour surveillance from all sides, so that we can immediately detect such cases, as well as spontaneous fires, because during the summer we also have spontaneous fires caused by gases produced by this landfill. We also regularly conduct soil testing, because the only way to protect this type of landfill is by covering it with soil,” he said.

Environmentalists rank the Bukova landfill among the most problematic in the country and believe that it has posed a major risk for years, particularly because of its proximity to Lake Ohrid.

Environmental activist Gjoko Zoroski said that the waste disposal site lacked the necessary protective infrastructure. “This waste disposal site does not have protective infrastructure, meaning that it has no hydroisolation and no system for collecting runoff water. It also has no system for controlling or collecting landfill gas, because all the runoff from this landfill contains heavy metals and organic pollutants—ammonia and nitrites. These runoffs reach both the Ohrid side and the Prespa side. Fires occur frequently; the landfill ignites spontaneously because of the presence of metal, and as a result PM particles appear in the air. These are highly dangerous gases, and Ohrid is often polluted because of the Bukova landfill,” he said.

The capacity of the Bukova landfill has long been exceeded. Local authorities see the creation of a regional landfill as the most appropriate solution to the situation.