There are many more such landfills. This is a huge problem in Poland, said Elżbieta Anna Polak, Marshal of the Lubuskie Voivodeship, commenting on the fire at the landfill in Zielona Góra. According to her, what happened on Saturday is an alarm. – The red light was on very brightly. It’s time to solve these problems. These bombs cannot be allowed to go off,” she said.
In Przylepa, a district of Zielona Góra, a chemical waste landfill is on fire. Firefighters fight the fire. Plumes of black smoke that extend over the area may contain dangerous chemicals. – The mayor of the city prepared places for evacuation – said the Marshal of the Lubuskie Voivodeship Elżbieta Anna Polak on TVN24, who was a guest of “Fakty po Faktach” on Saturday.
On Saturday evening, after the meeting of the crisis staff and after getting acquainted with the results of air tests, the Lubuskie Voivode, Władysław Dajczak, announced that the evacuation of the residents of the area where the fire occurred will not be announced for the time being.
– For the moment we do not decide to evacuate about 2.5 thousand residents of Przylep, who live there in the immediate vicinity of this fire – he informed. But we will continue this research on an ongoing basis. If it turns out that these indicators increase or exceed the permissible standards, we have been prepared for several hours, after the actions taken by the president of Zielona Góra, to immediately evacuate the inhabitants – added the voivode Dajczak.
Marshal Pole about the fire: it looks dramatic
Marshal Polak reported on the course of the firefighting operation in “Fakty po Faktach”. – This is a very large warehouse of over six thousand cubic meters of hazardous waste. In fact, no one knows exactly what is there. It all looks dramatic, she said.
– We have hospitals on standby, including a teaching hospital. The ambulance service is also strengthened, two ambulance teams are available. The mayor of the city has prepared places for evacuation – said the marshal of the Lubuskie Voivodeship.
Chemical warehouse fire. Marshal of the province Lubuskie: it all looks dramaticTVN24
“There is no trace of the company that stored the waste there”
The Pole said that “the warehouse is filled to the roof”.
– The owner of the landfill is some private company, of which there is no trace. This city was struggling with the problem of disposing of this landfill. I know that they have repeatedly asked for support, for financial subsidies. Unfortunately, this time bomb has been ticking here for a decade. This is certainly dangerous, toxic waste – emphasized the marshal.
She added that due to the impossibility of tracing the company that stored waste in the warehouse several years ago, the obligation to dispose of it rests with the mayor of Zielona Góra.
“These bombs cannot be allowed to go off”
– We know that there are many more such landfills. This is a huge problem in Poland – added the Pole. “Unfortunately, people are struggling with these problems. I am convinced that the state budget should include funds to solve these problems once and for all – said the marshal.
She added that what happened today in Zielona Góra is an alarm. – The red light was on very brightly. It’s time to solve these problems. These bombs cannot be allowed to go off,” she said.
She argued that “you can’t run away from these problems.” She reminded about the catastrophe on the Oder, which affected, among others, the Lubuskie Voivodeship. “It’ll be a year in a moment and the government hasn’t done anything about it,” she said. – There is a special act on the Oder River, which actually creates opportunities for investment, but does not save the Oder River. The same is true of such landfills. This is an unwanted problem, perhaps invisible from Warsaw, said the marshal.
She added that “it would be enough to increase revenues and regulate the financing of local governments.” “We could handle it,” she said.
Main photo source: TVN24