Over the past few months, the Polish courts have issued two judgments confirming the Pelpin residents’ right to participate in legality check procedures of Elekrownia Północ (EP). Last year the Voievodship Administrative Court in Gdansk (Wojewódzki Sąd Administracyjny - WSA) annulled the decision of the Governor of Pomeranian Voivodeship to discontinue the appeal proceedings filed by one of the inhabitants of the Pelpin municipality. The judgment is final so the dispute opens again to all the parties. However, a similar verdict followed with respect to another three farmers.
According to the rulings the Governor of Pomeranian Voivodeship needs to re-assess the environmental impact of the investment. Thus, there will be another possibility to discuss the conditions of the construction process.
The judges recognized the right of the residents to participate in administrative proceedings and to examine the influence of the project upon its nearest neighborhood along with its influence upon the natural environment.
The local activists claim their rights to control the construction Kulczyk Investments intends to perform, should be properly recognized. According to Roman Jelitto, a resident of the county Tczew, one of the opponents to the investment: “The governor and the head of district ignored the local communities fighting for their environment. Officials have to understand that they are supposed to serve the society and protect the interests of all citizens. The WSA ruling proved that they have not fulfilled these obligations. If our public administration will continue to act like this it never regains confidence. Each of us would like to be sure that you do not have to sue to be treated seriously".
Many local community members share this opinion. “From our point of view nobody has consulted the EP project in a proper way. I realize that we need new plants, but not so big and not here. We want to preserve the beautiful nature of Kaszuby region, Tuchola forest and the river Vistula region for our grandchildren, " warns Tadeusz Łęgowski (Legowski), a farmer, who lives next to the planned plant.
According to residents such an immense investment in areas with a unique landscape and historical values can lead to instant degradation. "When I heard about the investor’s plan to build a large coal fired power plant on the fertile soils of Kociewie and close to Żuławy, another region extremely important for food production in Poland, I was sure that in the process of consultations and obtaining permits the whole idea will fall down because of the threat the soil. While the project kept on becoming more real, however, I started to examine the proceedings more closely. It was difficult to accept the methods the investor and the government officials choose to use, that is placing emphasis on the benefits, ignoring the risks and keeping the project as invisible to the public media beyond the county of Tczew as possible. All of my ancestors lived in Kociewie for more than 200 years. This region is my home and I feel obliged to stand for it. The local representatives of the public administration cannot be trusted in the slightest degree once they intend to build the plant and to promote it." says Mariusz Śledź (Sledz), a local activist interested in the Kociewie region history and environment.
All this makes people predict their further involvement in administrative and court proceedings. "We want to keep an eye on the plant and fight for our right to live with dignity in the clean and safe natural environment.", promises Genowefa Podobińska, one of the plaintiffs.
In the grounds to the final judgment the court stated that in the EIA report prepared by the EP investor: "The impact of the investment will not be limited only to the property owned by the company but significantly exceed its area. This applies to the emissions of dust, heavy metals, as well as noise. The statement of the public authority that the emissions do not exceed acceptable standards does not exclude the fact of their existence and the impact on neighboring properties". What follows the Governor of the Pomeranian Voivodeship (a local office authorized to decide in this particular case) should have checked the location of plots owned by the applicants and should have analyzed the influence of planned investment on the properties. Once the influence was established the governor was supposed to grant the plaintiff the rights of a party and acknowledge the application.
The investor didn’t use his rights to lodge an appeal against the judgment. This means that the case goes back to the second instance administrative office, in this case the Pomerania Voivodeship office. The governor will have to issue a new decision. This means further delay in the project’s kick off.
It’s not the end of the EP power plant investor’s trouble. The company still has not received a number of major documents: an integrated permit, the final building permit decision concerning the construction of infrastructure and equipment of the planned water and sewage supply network and a final building permit decision concerning the construction of power lines.
For further information, please contact
Olga Sypuła
olga@pracownia.org.pl
+ 48 698 139 688