The program is scheduled for three years. In 2025 already, almost EUR 25 million will be made available for Poland's local governments for this purpose - and the funds are scheduled to double in subsequent two years. The first funds have already been allocated to some regional budgets.
"The largest number of illegal hazardous waste dumps were established in Poland in 2017 and 2018. Tanks with dangerous substances stored, disposed of or buried without permission in various locations, are increasingly leaking or catching fire - which is particularly dangerous. This additional funding will help clean up another 14 of such illegal waste disposal sites. A total of 25 local governments across Poland will receive support, and the funds will first go to those with the most hazardous waste"
- Poland's Minister of Climate and Environment, Paulina Hennig-Kloska, told Polish Radio.
One of the first beneficiaries of the program is central Poland's rural administrative district of Chodów, located on the border of Łódzkie and Wielkopolska regions, on the latter's side. Over two hundred cubic meters of illegal hazardous waste - including carcinogenic benzene and paralytic phosphoryl trichloride - were discovered there six years ago by a local resident. Now, a tender is finally underway for its removal.
The Wielkopolska governor, Agata Sobczyk, told Polish Radio that the Chodów site is just one of 80 such illegal hazardous waste dumps detected in the region - and that the new funds will help remove the most dangerous of those.
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Source: IAR