The Krobia and Miejska Górka region of Poland are well known for its food exports, particularly the tomatoes and sugar beets used by Heinz Ketchup for products destined for supermarket shelves in the United Kingdom. Food exports are now at risk, as well as a wind farm producing clean energy that will be demolished.
All of this will disappear, including 22 villages that are expected to be bulldozed, forcing thousands of people to relocate. This will likely take place so that the Polish energy company PAK can start an opencast coal mine that will eventually cover 11,900 hectares (29,400 acres) and include a 1,000MW coal-burning power plant
Many of the farmers have ties to the region that go back a number of generations, and they just do not want to leave. Janusz Mackowiak is a former member of Poland’s Agricultural Party. He spoke with the Guardian, saying that thousands of people had already protested against the opening of the coal mine, and many more would join in if the project goes forward.
“If we see the mining company actually arriving with equipment here, then we will do everything we can to get rid of them,” he said. “Some people are really desperate and police have already had to intervene several times. We tried to calm people, but their desperation seems to be growing.”
While the protests started out as a grassroots effort, 18 local companies have joined in supporting it, including Heinz, the biggest employer in the area. The company depends on local farmers crops for its products. A fourth of its products are exported to other countries, with the U.K. being their biggest export destination.
“The coal mine would negatively affect Heinz’s business activities as well as the entire economic ecosystem of the region,” said Leszek Wenderski, the factory’s quality manager. Heinz bought the factory in 1997 from the 100-year-old Pudliszki company, a household name all over Poland. Both companies use locally-grown tomatoes, sweet corn, green peas and sugar beets in their products.
Opencast lignite coal mining in Poland
Hard coal and lignite, or brown coal, are the dominant source of Poland’s total power generation and is expected to remain so until at least 2030. It is estimated that hard coal reserves in the country exceed 19.1 billion tons, and mineable lignite reserves come to about 1,6 billion tons.
Additionally, over half of all Poland’s power stations are over 25 years old, and one-fourth of them have been operating for over 30 years. All of the newer power plants use lignite coal. Lignite is a dirty coal, and more contaminated than hard coal. It sits closer to the surface and is removed using gigantic mechanical diggers.
Poland currently has three opencast lignite coal mines in operation in the country. They include the Adamów Coal Mine, Bełchatów, and the Turów Coal Mine. One more, the Konin Coal Mine was closed down in 2001. The Belchatow mine in the central part of Poland supplies all of its output to a power plant producing 27 – 28 TWh per year. This is called mine-mouth production.
The Turow mine in southwestern Poland supplies 96 percent of its output to a mine – mouth power plant, also. The Belchatow and Turow mines and power plants belong to a group of companies. The Konin and Adamow lignite mines are located in Central Poland and are both owned by PAK KWB. PAK’s three Konin mines supply lignite to three mine-mouth power plants, yet PAK only generates 8.5 percent of Poland’s total electricity needs.
PAK is owned by Polish TV-tycoon and plutocrat Zygmunt Solorz-Zak. While he has not applied for EU funding for the new opencast mining project, he has been able to stop an application for additional wind turbines at a wind farm he plans on using. He will possibly find out if his plans are approved as early as 2016, but has to wait for an environmental impact assessment later this year.
