Otwock. Groundwater contamination and court verdict

We described the beginning of the case on tvnwarszawa.pl at the end of 2021. About the disclosure of archival documents concerning groundwater contamination in a large area of ​​the city, the mayor of Otwock, Jarosław Margielski, reported. The Polish Geological Institute conducted research in 2009 and presented the then authorities with a map of areas contaminated with carcinogenic chlorine compounds. However, no one informed the residents. Margielski ordered an audit and announced a notification to the prosecutor's office. The contamination of groundwater affected part of the city center and the Kresy district.

Later, in August 2022, the former secretary of Otwock Piotr Bartoszewski accused the president Jarosław Margielski for hiding the truth about the hacker attack on the city hall and the contamination of underground water. In his opinion, the president knew about the second case much earlier, but he made it public to “drow out” information about the leak of residents' personal data. Letters from Bartoszewski with such content were sent to the mailboxes of Otwock residents. The information also appeared on social media.

Otwock authorities denied these reports and announced legal actions against the former employee.

The finale of this case was described by Wirtualna Polska. The verdict was issued at the end of July in the District Court of Warsaw-Praga. “The court established in the trial beyond any doubt that the information provided in this regard by Piotr Bartoszewski to the residents was consistent with reality and true, and Jarosław Margielski had knowledge of the possible water poisoning much earlier than in December 2021. The court thus found that the content of the letter to the residents could not lead to the infringement of Jarosław Margielski's personal rights” – such a fragment is quoted by the portal wp.pl.

The court also ruled that Bartoszewski's letters were dictated by the public interest.

The verdict is not final. Margielski also announced that he will file an appeal.

Jarosław Margielski has been the mayor of Otwock since 2018. In the local elections he obtained 76.01 percent of the votes and won in the first round. He is associated with Law and Justice, but in the last elections he ran as a non-party candidate.

Not long ago, the Otwock authorities fought for 100 million złoty to co-run the Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Jan Paderewski Institute of National Thought Heritage, as well as 3.5 million for the renovation of a historic villa. The previous resolution was invalidated by the Mazovian voivode Mariusz Frankowski. The agreement with the city was signed, while PiS was still in power, by Piotr Gliński, former Minister of Culture.