A year and a half ago on TVN24 we showed a shocking report “Vodi Chervoni” about the illegal dumping of often hazardous waste. The sensation caused by the material prompted Nitro-Chem, Poland's only producer of TNT, to remove its waste, but it did not. Millions of zlotys of taxpayers' money were spent on this.
Relief – in one word, residents of Novi Prajmov in Mazovia explain the destruction of the last tanks.
– I felt relieved. I live in a radius of less than one kilometer, and according to what we knew and did a little research, the destruction zone in case of explosion or fire was very large, up to 15 kilometers – says Krzysztof Wisniewski, councilor of Prajmów commune.
The explosion happened because hazardous waste was illegally stored there. – The waste that is here was a threat to the air, water, as well as to life and health, – says Jan Dabek, the former mayor of Prasmov commune.
This became possible thanks to the persistence of the residents
This story is another part of the story about waste containing toxic chemicals planted by the garbage mafia. In this case, we can talk about a happy ending.
– If we had stayed here half a year ago, we would not have been able to stay in one place. This bad smell has already been felt here, as well as by local residents, – says Gražina Zarlicka, head of the village of Novi Prasmov, Prasmov commune council.
Within 12 weeks, 1585 Mausers were transported from here in 73 transports.
Boyanovsky about working in the report “Vodi Chervone” TVN24
– We also succeeded thanks to the perseverance of the residents and my predecessor, who provided 100% financing. However, there are many very poor communes in Poland that are too small to be able to do this, says Michal Kmieczyk, the mayor of the Przemyśl commune.
In the tanks, among other things, there was red water, i.e., waste produced during the production of TNT. They were discovered by our reporters and investigators in at least a few Polish landfills over the past year.
TNT is produced by one plant in Poland: “Nitro-chem” of Bydgoszcz. – Earlier, after the material in TVN24, “Nitro-chem” signed a contract with the commune for the collection of its waste. Unfortunately, as soon as the media hype died down, Nitro-Chem pulled out of the deal – says Michal Kmieczyk.
One of many such landfills in Poland
The total volume of waste removal from the warehouse was PLN 9 million. For the communists of Prazhmov, this is the money that they will provide for all teachers and all local transport for a year, and only for this reason they could not pay for it.
READ ALSO: “Red waters”. Report on illegal dumping of hazardous substances. The authors discuss their findings
– If it was only utility funds, we would have had to collect money for 12 years to transfer it, – says Yan Dabek.
In the end, the funds were 100% from the state, from the National Environmental Protection Fund. Unfortunately, this landfill is an isolated example. There are hundreds similar and larger across the country. It is not clear when they will be removed.
Main photo source: TVN24
