In an email to the editorial office, the Reader, a resident of Gromadka Municipality wishing to remain anonymous, wrote:
Krzysztof Król [przewodniczący Rady Gminy Gromadka i pracownik Nadleśnictwa Chocianów – przyp. istotne.pl] ordered that waste dumped in forested areas near the so-called gravel pit in Nowa Kuźnia be covered with soil.
The municipality is currently carrying out road repairs, and some of the excess soil being removed was transported through the site indicated by Mr Król. He wanted to quietly resolve the matter and the waste problem at the gravel pit.
Who dumped the waste in the forest is not known. Forest guards were unable to establish this. Photos of the waste—before it was covered—were posted on the Facebook profile of the village head of Nowa Kuźnia:
[Post już niedostępny]Reader:
The matter was also discussed at a village meeting in Nowa Kuźnia, attended by Gromadka Municipality Head Dariusz Pawliszczy and the county councillors present: Ryszard Kawka, Ewa Potyszka, [a także] other candidates and residents of Nowa Kuźnia.
Mr Król did not deny it and said that this was not an election issue. [...]
The matter was reported, among others, to officers from the Bolesławiec County Police Headquarters. The resident of Gromadka Municipality added:
I believe that a candidate breaking the law in broad daylight and deliberately is an issue not only for the elections, but above all for the electoral commissioner, who was also informed of this fact.
Shortly after information about the covered waste reached us, it turned out that it had been dug up. Below are photos from Wednesday, October 10:
We wrote to K. Król via Facebook, asking for a contact number. The Chair of the Gromadka Municipal Council only replied:
This matter is part of a smear campaign conducted by my opponents for many years in retaliation for my official actions.
And he added:
The forestry district is handling the matter following my report.
We asked Dariusz Pawliszczy, the head of Gromadka Municipality, about the matter. The head of Gromadka told us only that the incident took place in the forestry district and that it was investigating the matter. He also said that it had nothing to do with the Gromadka Municipal Office, because Krzysztof Król himself is a councillor, not an employee of the Municipal Office.
At the end of the conversation, D. Pawliszczy referred us to Stanisław Mazan, head of the Chocianów Forestry District.
– Forestry officer Krzysztof Król called me two weeks ago to ask whether the excavated material could be transported and the road in the forest in Nowa Kuźnia reinforced – the forestry district manager told istotne.pl. – I replied: you can. But only if it is clean soil. And heaven forbid you cover any waste.
S. Mazan says that the Forestry District handles such matters very seriously. It pays particular attention to waste in the forest because the image of the State Forests is a priority. The forestry district manager had also received a report concerning the landfill in question. The waste was soon to be transported to a facility in Trzebień.
Before that happened, however, it was covered with soil. – Forestry officer Król failed to ensure compliance with what we had agreed – Stanisław Mazan stresses. He adds that in this case, the person transporting the soil was at fault. – I have no grounds to accuse my employee of knowingly wanting to cover waste in the forest – the forestry district manager points out.
The head of the Chocianów Forestry District ordered his subordinate to clean up the waste. This will probably be the end of the matter. The Forestry District does not intend to take legal action against the company that covered the waste with soil at the gravel pit in Nowa Kuźnia.
What do you think about all this? We invite you to join the discussion.