Court suspends hearing on environmentalists' Turów lawsuit; mining can continue

Warsaw’s administrative court announced today that it was suspending proceedings concerning the Turów mine, in which environmental organizations sought to have the decision allowing mining annulled. Polish media reported the news. According to them, this means that lignite mining at the mine can continue, at least for now. The Czech Republic also had a dispute with Poland over Turów, concerning the impact of mining on groundwater. The dispute was settled last February by an intergovernmental agreement signed by the prime ministers of both countries.

„Mining at Turów will not be halted for now. The administrative court has suspended proceedings on the environmentalists’ lawsuits,“ the biznes.interia.pl news website reported.

The dispute concerns whether a decision issued by the General Directorate for Environmental Protection in spring 2022 was in accordance with the law. The decision enabled the mine’s owner, the PGE Group, to successfully apply for a concession allowing mining to continue until 2044. The court has now suspended proceedings on the environmentalists’ lawsuits until a decision is made on PGE’s application to amend the environmental impact decision being challenged, the biznes.interia portal added.

„The fight over Turów continues. The Voivodeship Administrative Court (in Warsaw) today decided to suspend the court proceedings. The concession until 2044 remains in force, and the operation of the Turów power complex is not at risk,“ Environment Minister Anna Moskwa wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

In February this year, Poland’s Ministry of Climate and Environment authorized mining at Turów until 2044. But after the dispute with the Czech Republic had been settled, environmental organizations challenged the continuation of mining, and the court was due to rule on their lawsuit today.

Rzeczpospolita even described the case as a „day of reckoning“ for the mine and nearby power plant, which the Polish government says are indispensable to the country’s energy security. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had announced in advance that the government would not comply with any unfavourable ruling, while lawyers suggested that in such a case it might be possible to use a „back door“ in the form of an earlier permit allowing mining until the end of April 2026.

Citing data from Polish energy companies, environmentalists claim that the Turów power plant generated 5.5 percent of Poland’s electricity this year, from January to July, while the government cites a seven-percent share that applied to last year, Rzeczpospolita added.