Overview
- A broken sewer pipe during construction of a new outfall allowed untreated wastewater to reach coastal waters off Medulin, prompting immediate closure of the Bumbište and Centinera beach sections and red warning flags to protect swimmers.
- Local health officials issued the ban as a precaution even though initial samples at Centinera showed no abnormalities, and they say reopening requires the leak to be fixed and successive lab results confirming safe bathing conditions.
- Medulin’s mayor Ivan Kirac filed a criminal complaint alleging a suspected environmental offense and notified state oversight bodies, and investigations into cause and responsibility are ongoing.
- The municipality says it is not the project owner and assigns responsibility to the public utility Vodovod Pula-Labin and the construction contractor, and it reports that the contractor and supervising authority have agreed a technical fix and repair work has begun.
- The closures affect only the two beaches and officials are advising tourists to use other nearby bathing spots while authorities continue water sampling, lab analyses, and inspections to prevent further public-health and tourism disruptions and to assess whether wider sewage infrastructure problems contributed.