Danuta Proniewska lives 80 meters from the slaughterhouse. The house has been owned by her family since the 1970s. At the time there was also a slaughterhouse nearby, but it was a small establishment belonging to a cooperative of agricultural circles. Since the late 1990s, when the slaughterhouse was bought by the current owner, the plant has undergone a profound transformation.
– Everything was gradually expanded. None of us received any notification that such a construction was to take place – Proniewska argues.
Satellite photos show how much the plant has grown over the past 15 years. The expansion of the slaughterhouse was announced in official announcements and only by name of the people living in the immediate vicinity. This is why the inhabitants, who today complain about the slaughterhouse activity, did not have full knowledge of both the expansion and the size on which it was planned to operate.
– When the slaughterhouse was small, it didn’t bother anyone. Everyone was used to it. It is a village, but it is completely different from something that is sporadic, and completely different when it is day in the day or for several hours at night or on weekends – says Małgorzata Kowalewska.
Ms. Małgorzata lives in Warsaw, but 10 years ago she decided to build a house on her father’s land. The area is located 250 meters from the factory and does not directly border the slaughterhouse. While the woman was building the house, the company began modernizing. However, the 2012 documents showed that after the expansion, the production scale at the plant would not change.
– If I had known that the slaughterhouse would be so expanded, I would never have made the decision to build a house, because it is a lot of money and effort, and now it is not clear what to do with it – admits Kowalewska.
Starost
The consent to the slaughterhouse to work three shifts 7 days a week and to increase production was approved by the Łomża starost in August last year. The permit was challenged by the Białystok Regional Prosecutor’s Office, where it was calculated that the starost agreed to an eight-fold increase in the slaughterhouse’s production capacity compared to the decision issued by the municipality in 2016.
– Of course, there will be greater production of waste, more noise, greater supplies of raw materials – says prosecutor Marcin Faszcza of the Białystok Regional Prosecutor.
– I believe that the offices must operate in compliance with the regulations in force in a given territory. If I were to refuse to issue such a decision, what would I put the entrepreneur in? – asks Lech Marek Szabłowski, starost of Łomża.
And why is the starost particularly worried about the entrepreneur? Asked the reporter. Comments!
– Because it is my duty to worry about entrepreneurs and residents and everyone – says Szabłowski.
Where is the interest of the residents in this case?
– The business is that they have a job next to each other which employs over 200 people. A company that pays taxes, especially to the municipality. An entrepreneur is a person who is very involved in social affairs. The plant goes to great lengths to minimize disturbance, including, probably in the near future, building a new access road to the plant – starost lists.
prosecutors office
Residents who were not considered part of the proceedings, dissatisfied with the decision of the starost, turned to the prosecutor.
– With the sole modification of the integrated permit, the residents are deprived of the status of party and of no effective influence on the proceedings. There is a risk of increasing production not only in this plant, but also in other plants and situations, through a gradual change in installments of the integrated authorization, and therefore, with subsequent amendments to the integrated authorization, the need to modify the environmental decision – explains the lawyer Marcin Faszcza.
The Białystok Provincial Administrative Court decided that starosty should have asked the owner of the slaughterhouse for a new environmental decision before allowing the increase in production. The verdict is not final because the entrepreneur has filed an appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court. It may take up to three years for a case to be listed.
– I’m surprised the owner would rather spend money on lawyers than put energy-intensive screens in front and to the side. He would do a lot and people would have one less fight – says Marek Bączyk, one of the residents.
Wager
We asked the property owner to respond to residents’ complaints during the camera interview. The entrepreneur refused to speak and the CEO sent a letter to our editorial team. The letter pointed out that the plant has been operating in this place for 50 years, it is one of the most modern pig slaughterhouses in Poland and employs over 200 people. The director also sent us a tape of his speech.
“We were surrounded on both sides of the factory by newly built houses. Some of them were built and inhabited only in the last year. This is not a comfortable situation for a company like ours. We have been in this place for a long time and today we are grappling with accusations, and not only us, but our entire industry, because I hear from many quarters, from many other entrepreneurs, that it is we who are not perceived as producers of meat. fresh pork, cutlet on a plate, but we are perceived as a potential unwanted neighbor ”, is heard in an excerpt of the recording.
Check
The provincial environmental protection inspectorate in Łomża was repeatedly informed of noises and smells coming from the slaughterhouse. According to the communication from the residents in 2019, it was possible to stop the delivery of waste from the plant to the surrounding fields. In the last 6 years, the inspectorate has carried out 8 inspections of the slaughterhouse, of which 5 without notice.
– Exceeding the permitted noise value was found, but no final sanction was imposed due to procedural errors in the measurements. However, in 2021, during the last inspection, carried out at the request of the Łomża district office, in relation to the extension of the integrated permit, these measurements did not show any overshoot – says Waldemar Gołaszewski, head of the Łomża branch of the Provincial Inspectorate for environmental protection in Białystok.
Only a few inhabitants met in the countryside wanted to talk to us about the operation of the plant. For many, the slaughterhouse is a place of work. The owner of the plant is very socially involved, as the manager informed us. The owner of the slaughterhouse finances, among other things, prizes and excursions for the students of the local school and subsidizes the activities of the voluntary fire brigade.
– I live about 700 meters from this plant, while the fire station is about 400 meters and it doesn’t bother us at all – says Marcin Ceran, commander of the local VLC unit.
– Residents who are directly adjacent to the facility have a problem. Personally, I asked for the creation of soundproof screens to suppress this noise. However, there are some technical obstacles, at least so the company representatives say, who say that it cannot be done, but probably silencers are installed – says Wiesława Król, mayor.
– The point is not that we want the plant to cease to exist, but that we can live here and live normally – explains Małgorzata Kowalewska.
– The municipal administrator is trying to find a solution to this difficult situation in this city, proposing mediation and, secondly, other solutions, effectively investing municipal funds to resolve this social conflict – says Cezary Zborowski, deputy head of the municipality of Łomża.
The municipality is building a road at the expense of which the entrepreneur will also participate. Moving the transport to the rear of the plant means reducing the movement of trucks across the countryside. As for the noise barriers, three years ago the owner of the plant launched a tender for their construction. Now the role of a noise barrier is played by a wall set up by containers on one side of the plant.
– We expect concrete details from the owner of the slaughterhouse. It’s about silencing these devices, changing the way you work, not working the slaughterhouse at night, on weekends. That’s why we went to court – says Danuta Proniewska.
Court
16 residents sued the owner of the slaughterhouse. They asked for a reduction in noise and odors. The entrepreneur has already concluded an agreement with several people and two have sold houses. 10 people keep their claims. At the request of the lawyer of the owner of the slaughterhouse, the court ordered the hearing behind closed doors, excluding the participation of the media in the hearing.
– The case has been going on for a year, two, three years and people are discouraged and this is a struggle to finish people, so that as few people as possible protest and give up, and he will do what he wants – concludes Marek Bączyk.
