In the Porto-Romano area of Durrës, fear has become part of everyday life since November 2024, when thousands of tons of hazardous waste were deposited in a warehouse near the facility known as Eco Park.
About 40 meters in the air, Gani Braho, 67, says he feels more at risk than others.
“I fear for my family’s health, but I have nowhere to go,” Braho told BIRN. “We have never felt part of the city, even though we are close to it. Now we have the remains at our doorstep,” he added.
Ganiu heads one of dozens of families living in this neighborhood, an administrative part of Katund i Ri. Most of the families settled there decades ago, after moving from the north of the country in search of a better life.
The containers located in Porto-Romano on a property managed by the Seized and Confiscated Assets Management Agency contain over 2,800 tons of hazardous waste originating from the ash from the chimneys of the steel manufacturing company, Kurum.
According to laboratory analyses conducted in Italy, they belong to electric steel furnace dust, a material classified as hazardous waste due to its content of heavy metals such as zinc, iron, lead and copper.
This waste raised an international alarm, as it was exported, according to the Durrës Prosecutor's Office, in violation of the legislation in force and international conventions for the treatment of hazardous waste. The containers were seized as soon as they were returned to Albania and placed in the Porto Romano area.
Halit Braha, 70, says his family moved to Porto Romano about 30 years ago to escape floods in his hometown of Kukës. However, problems also plagued his family on the outskirts of Durrës.
"Before, we had the issue of sewage. Every time they were blocked, the area flooded and brought pollution. Now they have brought waste to our door, which God knows what it is," he says with concern.
According to Braha, residents have not been informed by anyone about the contents of the waste and the risk it poses to their health.
"We have protested several times, but no one has provided a solution and explained anything to us," he added.
After confirming the hazardous nature of the waste, the Durrës Prosecutor's Office issued dozens of arrest warrants for the managers of the companies Kurum International and Sokolaj sh.pk involved in the export, as well as officials of the National Environment Agency, customs, or the concession company that managed the eastern quay of the port of Durrës.
The charges relate to smuggling of hazardous waste, forgery of documents, abuse of office and money laundering, while the officials are accused of abuse of office.
Just a few meters from the place where the hazardous waste containers were deposited is the Porto Romano Eco-Park, a public investment built on a former waste field and open to citizens as a recreational space.
But residents say that despite this investment, hazardous waste near their homes has remained a major concern in their daily lives. For them, the containers have negated any positive effects that the park's opening could have had.
Although they have protested several times, residents complain that they have not received any clear answers about the potential danger or the fate of the waste.
"We haven't received any official information," said Halit Braha. "We only heard from television that they are dangerous."
Even Gani Braho says that waste is now the cause of his daily worry.
“When I see the containers there, I think about my children and grandchildren,” Braho said, adding: “but I have nowhere else to go.”/ BIRN
