A year and a half ago on TVN24 we showed a shocking reportage “Wody Czerwony” about illegal landfills of often very dangerous waste. The emotions this material caused made Nitro-Chem, the only TNT producer in Poland, obliged to remove its waste, but did not remove it. Millions of zlotys were spent on this from taxpayers' money.
Relief – in one word, the inhabitants of Nowy Prażmów in Mazovia comment on the removal of the last tanks.
– I feel relieved. I live within a radius of less than a kilometer, and from what we knew and we did some research, the destruction zone in the event of an explosion or fire was very large, up to 15 kilometers – says Krzysztof Wiśniewski, councilor of the Prażmów commune.
An explosion was very likely because hazardous waste was illegally stored there. – The waste that is here was a threat to air, water, as well as life and health – says Jan Dąbek, former mayor of the Prażmów commune.
It was possible thanks to the persistence of the residents
This story is another episode of the story about waste containing chemical and poisonous substances planted by the garbage mafia. In this case we can talk about a happy ending.
– If we had stood here half a year ago, we would not have been able to stand still. This stench was already felt here and also by the local residents – says Grażyna Żarlicka, village head of Nowy Prażmów, councilor of the Prażmów commune.
During 12 weeks, 1,585 Mausers were transported from here in 73 transports.
Bojanowski about working on the reportage “Red Waters”TVN24
– We succeeded, also thanks to the persistence of the residents and my predecessor, who organized 100 percent funding. However, there are many much poorer communes in Poland, much smaller ones, that will not be able to cope with this – says Michał Kmiecik, mayor of the Prażmów commune.
The tanks contained, among other things, so-called red water, i.e. waste generated during the production of TNT. They were discovered by our reporters and investigators in at least several landfills in Poland over a year ago.
TNT is produced in Poland by one factory – Nitro-Chem from Bydgoszcz. – Initially, after the material on TVN24, Nitro-Chem signed an agreement with the commune to collect its waste. Unfortunately, as soon as the media furor subsided, Nitro-Chem withdrew from this agreement – says Michał Kmiecik.
One of many such landfills in Poland
The entire waste transport from the warehouse cost PLN 9 million. For the Prażmów commune, this is the amount for which they support all teachers and all local transport for a year, and for this reason alone they could not pay for it.
READ ALSO: “Red Waters”. Report on illegal dumps of hazardous substances. The authors about their findings
– If it were only municipal funds, we would have to collect money for 12 years to transport it – says Jan Dąbek.
Ultimately, the funds came 100% from the state, from the National Fund for Environmental Protection. Unfortunately, this landfill is an isolated example. There are hundreds of similar and larger ones throughout the country. It is not known when they will be liquidated.
Main photo source: TVN24