Polish NGOs Blame Coal Mining for Depleted Lakes
KWB Konin a subsidiary of the second largest producer of lignite in Poland, ZE PAK – has three, open-pit lignite mines in the area, writes the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Once state-owned but now controlled by billionaire Zygmut Solorz-Zak, ZE PAK runs four lignite-fueled power plants in the Wielkopolska region, and said that the opening of another mine is necessary to fuel these plants.
Water levels in several lakes in western-central Poland have noticeably shrunk, and some Poles are blaming the lignite mining industry, according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Grzegorz Skowronski, the mayor of Wilczyn, a municipality west of Warsaw, said the water level of Lake Wilczynskie had dropped five meters in the last five years, and continues to decrease at an alarming rate of four centimeters per week. Furthermore, the “catastrophic” state of the lake also affects other nearby lakes, which are interconnected, Skowronski told Reuters.
Farmers have also complained, saying the water loss has drastically affected their ability to harvest, and thus their paychecks. Some said they could not plant seeds a second time this year as a result.
KWB Konin – a subsidiary of the second largest producer of lignite in Poland, ZE PAK – has three, open-pit lignite mines in the area, writes the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Once state-owned but now controlled by billionaire Zygmut Solorz-Zak, ZE PAK runs four lignite-fueled power plants in the Wielkopolska region, and said that the opening of another mine is necessary to fuel these plants.
KWB Konin acknowledged that the mines siphon out groundwater before drilling, but also said that such practices have been going on for a long time, without affecting the environment.
“There is no question that in our activity we drain water and then throw it out … but if you sit on the edge of any of our mines and look around, you see green lands and farming taking place right next to the pit,” said Grzegorz Frąckowiak, KWB Konin director of investments, as quoted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Poland gets nearly 90 percent of its electricity from burning coal, despite much of Europe looking into renewable energy sources, Bloomberg reported.
The nation recently passed legislation that promotes coal production over renewable energy sources, New Europe writes. The nation is the eighth-largest coal producer in the world with an industry employing 100,000 people.
Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo had said ahead of the Paris climate summit in December 2015 that her country accepted the European Union’s position on reducing greenhouse gases, a change in Warsaw’s longstanding opposition to the issue as a way of protecting its coal industry.
About two-thirds of the European Union’s 50 most polluted cities are in Poland, especially in the areas where coal mining is prevalent, according to the World Health Organization, as cited by Bloomberg.
source: tol.org
Latest Posts
- Serbia, The real plans of the Jadar project
- Eurasian Resources Group highly commends the publication of the Critical Raw Materials Act
- Rio Tinto has spent more than a million euros on land in Serbia at the proposed site of a lithium mine that was eventually cancelled a year ago
- A new grievance mechanism for Chinese overseas mining needs to be free to use
- Europe revives mining to reduce dependence on the import of key raw materials, supply from Serbia as competitive choice
Popular Post
- Serbia, The real plans of the Jadar project
- Avala Resources shareholders invited to approve transaction with Dundee, copper-gold projects in Serbia
- Canadian mining companies in Europe & ISDS
- Rosia Montana in Romania, UNESCO protection and value of civic action
- Europe revives mining to reduce dependence on the import of key raw materials, supply from Serbia as competitive choice
- Gazprom-OMV deal exclude Romania OMV refinery
- What Are The Major Natural Resources Of Macedonia?
- Zidjin opens the “Chukaru Peki” mine in Serbia in the next two years
- Lithium extraction in Europe
- How valuable is Kosovo’s mineral wealth?