An agreement between Poland and the Czech Republic to end an environmental dispute over the Turów coal mine, which sits on the Polish side of their shared border, is being successfully implemented and is having a positive effect, the countries have confirmed.
In particular, an underground barrier installed by the mine’s owner, Polish state energy group PGE, has resulted in groundwater levels on the Czech side of the border rising. Their earlier decline had been one of the main complaints from Prague, which took the issue to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in 2021.
The following year, the then Polish government, led by the Law and Justice (PiS) party, signed an agreement with its Czech counterpart that brought the dispute to an end.
It included Poland pledging to pay €45 million in compensation and to implement measures to reduce the impact of the mine on the Czech Republic, including the underground barrier as well as a dyke to protect the region’s residents from air, noise and dust pollution.
For the rest of this article: https://notesfrompoland.com/2024/06/09/polish-czech-coal-mine-deal-having-positive-environmental-effects/