Contamination Analysis of an Old Croatian Industrial Site and Proposals for Its Planned Remediation and Repurposing

The location of the decommissioned factory of plastics and chemical products Jugovinil, City of Kaštela, Croatia, has gained significant attention for urban development and the establishment of tourist facilities over the past three decades. Since the site is on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, on the shore of Kaštela Bay, where nautical tourism is already developed, plans for a five-star tourism complex were initiated. Given that the former industrial plant, its coal-powered power plant, and other later industrial activities (small shipyards) caused a certain degree of contamination with NORM (naturally occurring radioactive material) residues and heavy metals, an on-site detailed investigation was conducted into the spatial distribution and concentration evaluation of contaminants within dozens of soil samples, and the distributions of contaminants in the area of interest were shown in the form of maps. This study applies an integrated GIS and geostatistical framework to analyze the spatial distribution of multiple contaminants. Maps highlighting polluted zones are included, along with maps indicating areas with higher cumulative concentrations of contaminants. This paper provides an overview of potential issues related to the detected contaminants, as well as proposals for remediation methods before repurposing the site using retrospective data about sources of residues and contaminants.