Protect Oder river in Poland from pollution of coal mines

Warsaw/Krakow, 29/06/2023 - Greenpeace activists, in response to the lack of adequate action by Prime Minister Morawiecki's government to protect the Oder River, displayed “Save the Oder” and “End fossil crimes!” on coal mine buildings.

This happened on the eve of Greenpeace's and Frank Bold's submissions to the Polish Water Authority to limit the water permits issued to mines discharging salt water into tributaries of the Oder and Vistula rivers.

"The water law puts mines in a privileged position and allows them to discharge wastewater into rivers with virtually unlimited concentrations of chlorides and sulfates. Now it is clear it was the salinity of the water that caused the golden algae bloom, which in turn led to the Oder disaster in 2022. The Water Authority should look at the water permits that have been issued to the mines and, where appropriate, reduce those permits," said Maria Włoskowicz, a lawyer with Frank Bold.

As the organizations point out, if the environmental goals set by the Water Framework Directive are threatened, which is currently the case, and water monitoring shows that standards are significantly exceeded, the Polish authorities responsible for water quality should initiate ex officio proceedings to limit water permits for mines.

"The catastrophe in the Oder River has continued unabated for a year, and Prime Minister Morawiecki is acting as if he is asleep. Silesian mines discharging salted wastewater have contributed to the fact that most of the life in the Oder River has died and will not recover for many more years. It is shocking that the units and institutions subordinate to the prime minister and his ministers first helped the mining companies circumvent the law, and for a year now have been unable to force them to limit their salt water discharges. Therefore, today, we are demanding Prime Minister Morawiecki to take the necessary measures and we are asking the Polish Water Authority to initiate the relevant proceedings," said Anna Meres of Greenpeace.

According to the 2000 Water Framework Directive, all rivers, lakes and groundwater in the EU must be brought to good status in the interest of supplying the population with water suitable for drinking.

"We demand that the Polish Water Authority restrict water permits in such a way that mines have to take real steps to reduce the amount of pollution discharged into rivers," added Maria Włoskowicz.

Pictures from the projection are available here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11AxDyO37yH-KJYttWcQ-knSSKq0Koyw3 

For more information please contact:
Katarzyna Bilewska, head of comms Greenpeace Poland  +48 500 236 211, katarzyna.bilewska@greenpeace.org
Izabela Urbańska, comms coordinator Frank Bold, +48 509 209 470, izabela.urbanska@frankbold.org