Greenpeace and Bund Sachsen lodge joint complaint over Turow mine

The environmental organizations Greenpeace and Bund Sachsen have lodged a joint complaint with the European Commission over the Czech-Polish agreement on the Turów mine. They claim that the agreement has not mitigated the negative impacts of continued coal mining at Turow which continues to cause extensive environmental damage and that, moreover, a clause in the agreement prevents them from taking the case before the EU Court of Justice.

The bilateral agreement on the Turów mine near the Czech-Polish border, signed in February, ended months of controversy over the negative impacts of continued mining and Poland’s plans to expand the mine closer to the Czech border. Poland paid Czechia €45 million (roughly CZK 1.1 billion) in compensation for the damage caused, and Prague withdrew a lawsuit it had filed against Poland at the EU Court of Justice over the mine. Residents on the Czech side of the border are increasingly concerned not only about noise and air pollution, but the loss of groundwater.