THE CHEMICAL-INDUSTRY IN THE CROATIAN ADRIATIC REGION - IDENTIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL-PROBLEMS, ASSESSMENT OF POLLUTION RISKS, AND THE NEW POLICIES OF SUSTAINABILITY

The paper discusses the scientific components of policy making in a sp ecific case. Next to tourism, the results of several decades of econom ic development policies in the Croatian Adriatic coast are several maj or chemical industry plants: petroleum refineries, a coke oven plant, polymer synthesis and fabrication (VCM and PVC), alumina and aluminum electrowinning, chlorine-alkali electrolysis, and calcium carbide, fer romanganese and ferrosilicon electric kilns. These industries are loca ted in the vicinity of three major towns: Rijeka, Sibenik and Split, a lthough problems exist also at Pula, Zadar and Dubrovnik. Their locati ons are in sensitive karstic environments of the coastal region, and t he extent of their impact is still a matter of study. Competition for land-use with the tourist industry, already present or planned in the vicinity, has created difficult management problems, specifically expr essed in the maintenance of environmental quality criteria. Environmen tal impact assessment and monitoring programs have shown several 'hot spots', albeit of limited extension. The chemical industry pollution l oad is in addition to other loads, such as urban sewage and various no n-point land-based outfall. Evidence already exists to warrant concern and calls for remedial action and/or a change in development policies . The chemical industries are highly energy intensive and require addi tional, unavailable regional and local electric power sources. Their s iting is increasingly difficult environmentally, technologically and s ocially, and calls for complex environmental management strategies. In turn, the economic edge depends on the pricing of electric power supp lied, the cost of pollution abatement technology, its maintenance, and the implementation of precautionary measures. The concept of 'sustain ability' will require a careful choice between available development o ptions, respecting the limits of the carrying capacity. Evidence is em erging that tourism and the chemical industry are increasingly incompa tible, based on the new evidence of the extent of ecotoxicological imp acts. The question is whether (i) to phase out polluting industries, i ncurring hereby heavy economic costs, or (ii) to conceive their develo pment by separate zoning, based on ecotoxicological considerations.