Coal vs communities
Across a large area of the Legnica region of the Lower Silesia voivodship lie the largest lignite deposits in Europe, and possibly the world. Faced with the prospect of currently active lignite mines in Poland being exhausted over the next four decades, the government has included the exploitation of these deposits in its recently published energy strategy.
Both Vattenfall and Polska Grupa Energetyczna, Poland's largest energy group, have already expressed interest in building a power station near Legnica which would be supplied by these deposits.
Lignite is strip mined from the surface rather than excavated from underground, which will complicate plans to access the new deposits. Several villages are located directly above the lignite, thus thousands of people would need to be resettled and their homes destroyed.
According to the government's energy strategy, local authorities are to secure the lignite deposits - in other words, no new construction should be allowed. However, according to Zdzisław Tersa, head of the local government of Kunice, one of the affected villages, the central government has made no contact with the town concerning the matter.
"I will say honestly that there has been no communication with the central government on this issue whatsoever. We have not been invited by them to any talks or consultations. We learned about these plans in the press and other media," he said.
Tersa explained that the region has undergone major development in recent years, which complicates the issue. "In the last 18 years, we have built the entire technical infrastructure, including water, gas and telecommunications. There has been massive progress in investment, in terms of new houses, and new housing developments in these villages," he said.
In Tersa's opinion, the decision to exploit the lignite mines should have been made earlier. "This decision is at least 20 years late. For many reasons, I can't see any way to stop the development of our region, but above all for reasons of humanity," he concluded.
