MEP Dr Milan Zver has addressed two priority questions to the European Commission regarding the construction of the C0 canal in Ljubljana.
The title and content of the documents obtained by the European Commission show that the European Commission was aware that the route of the C0 sewage canal passes through the groundwater catchment area along the Sava River and that no public hearing on the environmental impact of the project was held, which is contrary to the provisions of Directive 2014/52/EU and the environmental standards set by European legislation.
The water catchment area in question provides drinking water for 90% of the city, is critical infrastructure and the only source of drinking water for 300,000 inhabitants and 150,000 daily visitors of the Slovenian capital. The C0 canal threatens Ljubljana’s strategic and military security. It is located in an earthquake zone and is not built to earthquake-resistant standards. During the floods in August 2023, the pipeline came into contact with the drinking water intake. This is in breach of Directive 114/2008.
MEP Milan Zver therefore asked the European Commission:
Does the Commission diligently verify that projects supported with European funds do not endanger health, strategic security and critical infrastructure?
Does the Commission believe that the construction of a faecal sewage pipe in a water catchment area does not pose a threat to health and strategic security?
Does the Commission believe that the economic solution of sewage treatment in Medvode/Vodice takes precedence over ensuring the health and safety of European citizens?
And in his second question, MEP Zver informed the European Commission of warnings from experts and civil society that the August floods in Slovenia had damaged the C0 canal and caused it to leak; that the project had not been carried out in accordance with the EN 752:2017 standard, which is mandatory for the construction of sewerage systems in the European Union; that a comprehensive seismic safety assessment of the project had not been carried out in accordance with the EU Commission’s request of the 11th of April 2017; and that it is not known whether the installed piping and the concrete duct channels have any certificates of seismic resistance. The warnings that no fire safety and blast resistance assessment of the C0 canal project has been carried out and that the fire and blast resistance certificates of the installed pipes are unknown cannot be ignored either.
The C0 canal is a transport sewer for around 3,000 m3 of faecal and other sewage per day, which is being built above the water catchment area, and experts warn that if Ljubljana were to be poisoned, it would be left without drinking water, as there are no other suitable water sources for it to get its water from. The National Institute of Public Health also opposes the project on the grounds of its extreme health risks.
In light of these warnings, the MEP would like to know when the European Commission will verify the project’s compliance with EN 752:2017 and ensure that the damage to the C0 canal following the floods is independently verified.
Moja Dolenjska
