Polska wersja

NGOs continue fight to rescue Rospuda Valley

Yesterday environmental NGOs met with Polish President Kaczynski to deliver over 150 thousand signatures collected by the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza in support of a petition to suspend construction along the controversial route of the Augustow bypass.

Recently the head of the Podlasie region in northeast Poland issued his consent for the construction of a bridge over the Rospuda Valley as part of the Augustow city bypass project. Several hundred meters of bridge will be piled on to peat-bog of one of Europe’s greatest natural treasures. Rospuda Valley is a haven for a variety of habitats and species that are on the verge of extinction in Europe. NGOs announced that they will appeal this decision.

Along the planned route of the bypass scientists have identified 75 bird breeding districts of species that, according to the European Commission, are threatened by extinction throughout Europe. The road will also negatively impact wild, marshy forests and peat-bog, included in the European Network Natura 2000.

NGOs announced that they will file a complaint on this consent for environmental development, which they say violates national and Community legislation. - "The alternative proposed by the developer and eventually authorized will adversely affect the integrity of the site concerned. It must be objectively concluded that no alternative solutions exists. On the basis of collected documents we can definitely say that alternative solutions for Augustow Bypass were not assessed — claims Anna Roggenbuck, from Polish Green Network, a member group of CEE Bankwatch Network.The most outstanding issue is that the Environmental Impact Assessment report assessed only those localization alternatives which cross the Natura 2000 site, which is a clear violation of the Community’s Habitats Directive.

In cooperation with road engineers, NGOs identified an alternative route that would bypass these priceless areas. Wide documentation, including technical and economic feasability studies and an environmental analysis, was prepared and devolved to investors and authorities, in hopes that these materials would be considered prior to issuing project consent. Unfortunately, the authorities excluded a priori the alternative bypass without reason. "We feel that our suggestions were unwaveringly ignored by both the developer and the competent authorities" — said Gosia Znaniecka from OTOP, the Polish member of Birdlife.

NGOs hope that the Ministry of Environment will reconsider their call for fair consideration of the alternatives to the planned route. Nevertheless, NGOs are determined to file a complaint to the Highest Court as well.

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