The city of Zittau appeals

- objection to the continuation of the Turów open-cast mine

Translation of the news published on Zittau official website

On March 20, the city of Zittau appealed against the decision of the regional director for environmental protection in Wroclaw to determine the environmental conditions for the project "Continuation of mining of the Turów lignite deposit in the municipality of Bogatynia".

Although the press coverage and the statements of the Polish side suggest otherwise, according to the previous schedule, the EIA procedure has not yet been completed. At the moment the decision is still available in Germany until March 27th and within this period everyone can appeal. The city of Zittau immediately lodged an appeal against the EIA decision, e.g. because the presentation of the EIA process by the mine operator in the highlighted passages below is not true:

- The process was not "fully transparent" because essential parts of the EIA, which are necessary to assess the cross-border effects, were not translated into German at all.

- The participants in the procedure (e.g. Stadt Zittau) also did not receive the necessary information on all questions that raised doubts.

The Zittau city council has received no response to their objections dated September 12, 2019. Significant parts of the opinion of the town of Zittau were completely ignored. Other parts were taken into account, but in the form of conditions that in turn raised new doubts.
These objections are part of the appeal by the city of Zittau against the decision, sent by fax, post and e-mail on Monday.

Mayor Zenker explains the procedure: "This is only a license to continue coal mining for 6 years and not for the 24 years up to 2044 considered in the overall EIA process, but the concerns of the Zittau population will not only be affected by the planned activities after 2026, but immediately. Therefore, the issue of the license prior to the conclusion of the EIA process, in our view, is questionable.”

Kai Grebasch
Press office
Mar 26, 2020