Kriva Palanka, 28 March 2025 (MIA) – A report after samples taken from Kriva Reka a day after a breakdown in Toranica mine in the northeast of the country shows lead levels increased tenfold exceeding the allowed concentration and cyanide, phosphorus and nitrogen levels increased several hundred times more than what is allowed, Kriva Palanka Mayor Sasko Mitovski said Friday.

He announced the municipality will seek criminal responsibility for the pollution on several bases, vowing he will take measures to tackle consequences from the mine accident. The mayor said he will also seek assistance from central authorities. 

The Kriva Reka water a day after the mine breakdown is seriously polluted putting public health at risk, Mitovski told a news conference presenting the report of an accredited Skopje lab, which took water samples from Kriva Reka. 

“The report of the Kriva Reka water quality shows surging levels of harmful materials. What is very concerning is the concentration of hard metals, which increased by tenfold, more precisely the levels of lead in the water. Also, cyanide, phosphorus and nitrogen levels increased by hundreds of times,” he said. 

The Kriva Palanka mayor called on the public prosecution to sanction the perpetrator according to the criminal law, which carried a prison sentence from four to ten years for those who failed to abide by the environment protection regulation. 

“As a result of the pollution in Kriva Reka by the concessioner of Toranica mine, the lives and health of people along the rivers Toranica and Kriva Reka have been endangered as well as the flora and fauna. Soil along these two rives is also polluted, which includes farming land, and the livestock that is fed by these rivers is also at risk,” said Mitovski.

Earlier, the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning said the company managing Toranica mine in Kriva Palanka was fined 200 thousand euros for an incident in which a pipe burst through which the technological water is brought from the pit water clarifier to the flotation plant, considered a third-category misdemeanour.

Photo: printscreen