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Largest coal development in EU threatens one of the last big and wild rivers in Europe

Dodane: 26-8-2013

A group of Polish environmental organizations has submited an application for the annulment of the environmental impact assessment permit (EIA) for the construction of Poland’s „North” („Polnoc”) power plant – the largest planned coal power plant in Europe.

On the 26 August 2013, ClientEarth Poland, Eco-Kociewie, Workshop for All Beings, Greenpeace and WWF Polska Foundation requested the General Director of Environmental Protection (GDOS) to cancel the environmental decision for the construction of a hard coal power plant in Rajkowy, nearby Pelplin, northern Poland (The „Polnoc” power plant). The decision contains serious errors and will result threatens the rarest and most valuable species of fish found in the lower reaches of the Vistula River.

The decision is manifestly incompatible with the Regulation of the Minister of Environment, dated 4 October 2002. The regulation clearly states that waste discharge cannot raise the water temperature by more than 1,5°C. Unfortunately, at the request of the investor, the Regional Director of Environment Protection (RDOS) has agreed to cross the threshold by 0,5°C.

Moreover, the discharge of sewage cannot raise the water temperature above the threshold 21,5°C. Nevertheless, at the request of the investor, RDOS set the upper limit for temperature at 26,5°C.

These substantial mistakes could have significant consequences for the environment. Fish react to temperature changes even much lower than 0,5°C. In the case of the Vistula River, the most likely to be affected are migratory species: Atlantic salmon, sea trout, Atlantic sturgeon and river lamprey, warns Dr. Engineer Grzegorz Radtke, ichthyologist of the Inland Fisheries Institute in Olsztyn, and author of expert analysis showing the potential effect of power plant work on the Vistula River ecosystem. The agreement to raise the temperature by 0,5°C can stop the migration of fish and increase their mortality. And the upper limit of temperature allowed by the RDOS is already for this species fatal.

There is yet another threat, points out Dr. Przemysław Śmietana, a researcher at the University of Szczecin and author of a second analysis. According to him, the cumulative effect of the power plant on the ecosystem of the river will be higher than assumed by the investor.

Powered by coal, the 2 GW North power plant is the largest planned investment of its kind in Europe. Owned by Kulczyk Investments, it is to be built in the centre of valuable agricultural land, and the annual CO2 emissions will be 10 million tons. Right from the planning stage, the investment has been seriously flawed and has faced successive successful challenges on environmental and procedural grounds. On the application of ClientEarth, the Minister of the Environment repealed the integrated permit for the project on 15 September 2011, and on the application of ClientEarth and Eko-Kociewie, the Regional Administrative Court in Gdańsk repealed the building permit on 14 February 2012.

The decision on environmental conditions issued for the ‘North’ Power Plant allows waste water to be discharged to the Vistula River which, besides raising water temperature, exceeds maximum admissible concentration of toxic substances such as chlorides, sulphates and boron. Waste water from the plant will also contain biocides (heavy metal salts) which are lethal to all biological life. Expert opinions leave no doubt – implementing the decision may irretrievably destroy the Vistula River and the Baltic Sea wildlife. It also poses a serious threat to human health. The situation when the monitoring of the environment reaction to toxic waste water is conducted during the operating phase of the installation is unacceptable. Such decision needs to be repealed. The role of the environmental procedures is to eliminate such threats not to allow the risk of environmental damage

says Radosław Ślusarczyk from Association Workshop for All Beings

The Kulczyk Investments [Polnoc/North power plant] project has been plagued by problems for several years now because of flawed permitting applications. As a result of legal challenges by environmental organizations and local farmers, the Administrative Court in Gdansk quashed a permit to build the North Power Plant and the Minister of the Environment quashed an integrated emissions permit. Now, the General Director of Environmental Protections should annul the environmental impact assessment decision, which was issued in an obvious disregard of the law

said Marcin Stoczkiewicz, a senior lawyer ClientEarth

For more information and detailed ichthyologic analysis: