Polski
Over the past weekend, the Brynica River changed beyond recognition – reddish water with an unpleasant odor and sewage-like appearance appeared in the riverbed. The cause of the contamination was Friday’s fire at a landfill in Siemianowice Slaskie. Although firefighters managed to extinguish the fire, chemicals mixed with firefighting substances leaked into the river. Environmental risks also apply to the Przemsza and Vistula rivers.
Disastrous landfill fire in Siemianowice Slaskie
On Friday, May 10, an intense fire broke out at the chemical waste dump on Wyzwolenia Street in Siemianowice Slaskie. According to the Regional Commander of the State Fire Service, Wojciech Kruczek, the fire covered an area of 6,000m2. It is estimated that the landfill contained approx. 5,500. tons of chemical substances, i.e. Solvents, thinners, varnishes, paints. It was an illegal composition, which in 2020. lost the right to collect hazardous waste and on which the WIOŚ imposed three fines totaling 318,000. PLN. The case was also handed over to the prosecutor’s office.
During a press conference held as part of a crisis management team meeting, Silesian Governor Marek Wojcik reported that 240 firefighters participated in the rescue operation. After the fire at the Siemianowice landfill was extinguished, there were no exceedances of harmful substances in the air. The monitoring was carried out by the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection and mobile laboratories patrolling the Opolskie and Malopolskie provinces.
Contaminated water in the Brynica River
The Siemianowice landfill fire, however, has left its mark on surface water quality. A watercourse near the landfill, the Michalkowitz Ditch, flows directly into the Brynica River, which in turn feeds the Przemsza River, a left tributary of the Vistula. Despite the preventive measures used by firefighters in the form of desiccant sleeves, separators and filtering straw mats, it was not possible to completely stop the flow of firefighting water with chemicals into the Brynica River.
On Saturday, May 11, the Provincial Inspectorate for Environmental Protection (WIOŚ) in Katowice reported that toxic wastewater had leaked into rivers, indicating a risk of pollution of the Przemsza and Vistula rivers. Residents of the area along the Brynica River began posting alarming photos of overflowing red water with a foul odor on social media.
High concentrations of petroleum pollutants and volatile aromatic hydrocarbons, among others, were detected at a point just downstream of the inlet of the Michalkowitz Trench into the Brynica River. benzene, xylene, toluene and ethylbenzene. Exceedances of standards were also found in lower sections of the river. The Katowice-based WIOŚ assures that a comparison of data from Friday and Saturday shows an 8-fold reduction in dangerous concentrations. However, the situation remains serious.
Also over the weekend, the WIOŚ in Krakow tested water quality at the site of the sorption sleeve on the Przemsza River and at two measurement points on the Vistula River, before and after the mouth of the Przemsza. Saturday evening’s results showed low concentrations of petroleum and aromatic hydrocarbons with a slight chemical odor. Samples from Sunday, May 12 were already much cleaner, with no odor.
What are the prospects?
It is difficult to answer today what long-term effects the Siemianowice landfill fire will have on water quality in Silesia. The very fact that the firefighting operation has ended means that the amount of water flowing through the Michalkowitz Ditch has been reduced, thereby reducing the amount of harmful substances entering the Brynica River. Volunteer firefighting and firefighting units are also actively pumping out the sludge that collects at the absorption sleeves.
The Cracow and Katowice WIOŚ assure of constant monitoring of water in the area. The Silesian WIOŚ is also conducting a visual inspection of the fire scene. Long-term monitoring of the state of the water quality of the Brynica, Przemsza and Vistula rivers is also announced by representatives of the Polish Waters. So far, no dead fish or other animals have been found in the affected area.
The fire at the Siemianowice landfill, according to experts, did not affect the quality of the region’s drinking water – contaminants did not enter the water that feeds the intakes. Unfortunately, in a comment on the event, Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment Anita Sowinska recalled that 311 illegal hazardous waste sites have been identified in Poland. Many others remain unknown. The risk of flammable chemical fires and subsequent surface water contamination is alarmingly high throughout the country.
Main Photo: WIOŚ in Katowice
