The Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw is set to announce its verdict on the environmental compatibility of the controversial Turów opencast mine on March 6. The background to the proceedings is a lawsuit filed by the town of Zittau in the border triangle of Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. Zittau's mayor Thomas Zenker (non-party) considered a two-hour hearing in Warsaw on Thursday to be a success. The requests for evidence from Zittau were "fully included in the examination", although the other side wanted to have them rejected.
Zittau continues to complain that the environmental impact assessment was inadequately carried out, in which, among other things, the effects of the open-cast mine on the quality of the groundwater and demonstrable subsidence on the German side were not taken into account.
The open-cast mine is located near Zittau on Polish territory. According to a study, Zittau could sink up to one meter as a result of the continuation of the open-cast mine along the Neisse. In addition, concerns about groundwater, particulate matter and noise pollution were not taken into account during the approval process for the environmental impact assessment in Poland, and the remediation of the remaining hole after the end of coal mining was not considered. "There are rules that must be observed. And one of them is: you don't harm your neighbor," Zenker had said at the time in connection with the lawsuit.
The expansion plans had also caused tensions between the Czech Republic and Poland. The Czech Republic had initially taken the plans for Turów to the European Court of Justice. In February 2022, an agreement was surprisingly reached between the two countries.
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