This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. The mines of the former Siersza Coal Mine, abandoned by miners, were supposed to be flooded, “quietly” ending over a century of history. Today, Siersza and the mine workings in Trzebinia are in the news like never before. Mining industry experts, scientists, and, above all, ordinary residents are wondering what went wrong.
Residents in fear. You could fall into a hole right next to your own home.
For over a decade, the ground in Trzebinia has been steadily sinking. Meter-deep sinkholes have been appearing in the northern part of the city, making it impossible for residents to function normally. No-entry signs are everywhere. Due to the sinkholes, some allotment gardens, the local cemetery, and the stadium have already been closed to traffic. Road restrictions have been introduced. Indeed, even certain areas of the nearby forest are legally off-limits. Fortunately, no one has been injured (yet), although in a few cases, the ground has caved in just meters from residential buildings.
The mood among residents is dire, which is hardly surprising. The uncertainty of what might happen and the fear of a real accident “on your doorstep” must be tormenting. Especially if it persists for months… All rumors, even completely unconfirmed ones, find fertile ground – including those about possible resettlements or the evacuation of recently constructed apartment buildings. Among the regular visitors to Trzebinia are the media (both regional and national), thanks to which practically the entire country is now aware of the situation.
The city’s image is therefore more or less the same as Bytom’s in 2011, when the land “devoured” a housing estate in the Karb district, and panicked residents hurriedly fled their homes in the glare of television cameras. The association with the events in Karb is justified, as in both cases, the cause of the situation is coal mining. However, no mine is still operating in Trzebinia today. The last ton from the local “Siersza” coal mine left in October 1999 (the mine’s closure was completed three years later). And yet, the consequences of a century and a half of mining (the origins of the “Siersza” mine date back to the mid-19th century) still haunt residents.
The foraging was completed and the pumps were turned off. Because there was no other “gruba” nearby.
“It was obvious it had to end this way. After all, there was always a significant water hazard in this mine,” former Siersza miners, who were on staff until the very end and witnessed the end of this mine’s history firsthand, grumble today. In their opinion, what is happening now is an inevitable consequence of the way the mine was closed. They point primarily to the decision to shut down the pumps draining the underground workings as of December 1, 2000.
“The decision to self-flood the mine was made possible by its unique, different location compared to most mines in the Upper Silesian Basin. The mine was completely isolated from other mines and did not border any active or closed mines,” reads a statement from the Polish Geological Institute – National Research Institute.
In other words, it was decided that since there was no risk of flooding any neighboring mines, such a solution was acceptable. The water was to fill the mine workings (a total of 112 km) until the “groundwater table stabilizes,” which – as assumed at the time – would take approximately 6-7 years.
“After the mine is flooded and the depression cone is completely filled (around 2007), the current supply (approximately 14.5 m3/min) should be taken over by surface watercourses,” stated then-Minister of the Environment Czesław Śleziak in July 2003, in response to a parliamentary question.
In this context, he pointed to the risk of flooding in areas where there were no watercourses at the time (primarily forests). He added that for this reason, monitoring flooded hard coal mines is necessary, which allows for the correction of forecasting methods for flooding mine workings and monitoring changes in water quality. Referring to the case of “Siersza”, he referred to the opinion of specialists, according to which in the last phase of monitoring the course of flooding the mine, but “no later than one year before the expected complete filling of the depression cone, hydrological and hydrogeological observations should be started on the surface of the mining area.”
The coal lay very shallow here. Above it was clay, silt, and sand.
Just a few years after the mine began flooding, it was realized that the actual rate of filling the depression cone was slower than initially anticipated. Therefore, the original assumptions were revised, recognizing that the process would take 11 years. However, the focus remained on the “water capacity” of the workings and the degree of ground infiltration by rainwater, limiting itself to reiterating the earlier forecast that the rising water level would ultimately lead to “hydrodynamic equilibrium with the aquifers in the surrounding rock mass.”
It was also noted that the Siersza Coal Mine was characterized by “an extremely complex and extensive network of mine workings located at various levels and in various seams.” It should be noted that the network was very shallow, resulting from the coal seams being located close to the ground surface. As the Polish Geological Institute (PGI-PIB) points out, as early as the 19th century, this led to mining operations at depths of only a few dozen meters. Moreover, in more recent times, “Siersza” itself was one of the shallowest mines in the local coal basin – its deepest mining level was a mere 350 meters.
“And one more thing: it wasn’t just “Siersza” that was mining here; various other, earlier shafts also operated here. Coal was extracted from very shallow seams using them, although the exact location of these workings is not entirely clear today,” points out one former miner.
And it is precisely these shallow workings that are responsible for the current ground collapse in Trzebinia. The water that seeps into them (the very water that was supposed to fill the Siersza galleries) washes away the earth from beneath. And since these workings are so close to the ground surface, it doesn’t take much to create a sinkhole. Especially since, in this particular case, the overburden above the mined coal layers consisted of clay, silt, and, above all, sand. A very poor barrier to water coming from below.
The report identified over 500 sinkholes, including those outside the shallow mining zone.
While just two years ago, three sinkholes were recorded in Trzebinia, a year later there were a dozen, and the beginning of this year has seen a veritable explosion.
“We can consider this a certain disaster, because we are dealing with a series of events, not a one-off,” Deputy Minister of State Assets Marek Wesoły stated during a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee for Energy, Climate, and Environment devoted to the situation in the city.
The final report on the work carried out in Trzebinia, published at the end of July by the Polish Geological Institute-National Research Institute (PGI-PIB), which included a field inventory and analysis of satellite data, including data from airborne and terrestrial laser scanning, reports 527 inventoried sinkholes, 254 discontinuous linear deformations (faults, sills, crevices), and 52 areas where sinkholes were closed in the past by filling them in.
The document also indicates that sinkholes also occur outside the boundaries of documented shallow coal mining operations. This is not good news for residents, who were reassured a few months earlier that no mining was taking place beneath residential developments.
The report also identifies locations where undocumented mining may have occurred, meaning those where coal seams are at their shallowest depths, yet there are no documents indicating their mining.
And one more thing – the authors of the study point out that, due to geological reasons (the lack of isolation of the mine workings from the surface by impermeable overburden), there was from the outset “a reasonable expectation of adverse phenomena occurring on the surface after the mine workings were completely flooded.” In other words, they somewhat agree with the local miners.
The company warns and reassures. The ground has been stabilized in Silesia.
As if the current problems with sinkholes weren’t enough, more may appear in the Trzebinia area in the near future – this time related to flooding. The water filling the mines is rising at a rate of half a meter per month.
“In two years, we’ll have this water on the surface,” warned Marek Pieszczek, Vice President of the Mine Restructuring Company (Spółka Restrukturyzacji Kopalń) during the January session of the Trzebinia city council.
After the closure of the “Siersza” mine, it was this company that was charged with monitoring the recovering water table, and it is to this company that residents of the municipality and local authorities now direct all their questions, grievances, and concerns. Commissioned by the Skorupka, GPR and microgravimetric geophysical surveys have been conducted in Trzebinia for several months, as well as ground conditioning work (by injecting a stabilizing mixture) in selected locations.
“We have experience from shallow mining areas,” said Vice President Pieszczek during the aforementioned city council session.
Company representatives are attempting to reassure residents by citing positive examples from Upper Silesia. In this context, Vice President Pieszczek, who appeared before the councilors, pointed out that the construction of the Silesia City Center shopping complex and the Dębowe Tarasy complex in Katowice were also carried out in areas subject to shallow mining.
“Before development began, the area was treated by drilling to depths of up to 80 meters and injecting various solidifying mixtures, which stabilized the soil. This area was initially classified as unsuitable for development, but after the treatment, it was classified as suitable for development,” the Vice President of SRK explained to the councilors.
Costs are running into millions of zlotys. How much will the compensation cost?
Will the area be stabilized this time enough to stop the sinkholes from disrupting the district’s operations? For now, the outcome of this operation remains an open question. As are its costs, which are already running into millions of zlotys.
As SRK reported, the total costs of its actions related to eliminating the threat in Trzebinia from 2021 to August 2023 amounted to approximately PLN 14.12 million. And that’s not all. Remediation of the parish cemetery area is expected to cost approximately PLN 14.39 million, while similar work in the Trętowiec housing estate area will cost approximately PLN 31 million.
How much will it cost to pay for compensation for mining damage alone? Only the valuation of “real estate and assets” commissioned by the company this summer will reveal this.
SRK has already signed the first (and likely not the last) agreements regarding compensation for damaged tombstones at the cemetery in Trzebinia-Gaj. The company is also conducting a procedure to pay compensation for mining damage that occurred within the allotment gardens (at the same time, it has offered the municipality another plot of land to exchange for one that can no longer be used by allotment gardeners). Furthermore, it is to donate plots of land totaling over 32,000 square meters to the municipality. Company representatives also revealed that they have received instructions to prepare replacement housing as close to Trzebinia as possible.
However, this may not end there. During a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Energy, Climate, and the Environment, the mayor of Trzebinia, Jarosław Okoczuk, insisted that SRK identify areas that should be excluded from residential development and that should be stripped of their current functions (such requests had previously been received from the Małopolska Voivodeship Office).
“Let’s remember, however, what this entails. For the local government, this creates financial responsibility, including the payment of compensation. The Trzebinia commune government is certainly not capable of handling this. It cannot bear the financial burden of this. That’s not an option,” the mayor stated categorically.
There is a tool and an agreement with the municipality. The barrier… interpretation of regulations
Paradoxically, however, money doesn’t seem to be the biggest ongoing problem in the current situation (current, as the “historical” problem is the choice of one mine closure method over another). More problematic are the inflexible regulations, which continue to make the actions undertaken typically reactive.
When, in May, deep-well pumps were commissioned by SRK in the threatened part of Trzebinia to pump out groundwater and maintain the water table at its current level, company representatives declared that this should maintain the current level.
“This is not a final solution. It is a temporary solution. A temporary solution to have time to regulate water conditions in this area,” Vice President Marek Pieszczek clearly emphasized during the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Energy, Climate, and State Assets.
He also admitted that the company has been trying unsuccessfully to address this issue for over a decade! The obstacle is the refusal of several dozen plot owners to provide access to their land, which in turn blocks the possibility of obtaining a building permit. As a result, two design firms selected by the company have already withdrawn from the project.
“According to the construction plan, to obtain a building permit, development conditions must be established. In the case of this investment, a location for the public-purpose investment must also be established. Under the applicable laws, and I’m particularly referring to the Real Estate Management Act, this is a difficult path, especially since the legal status of most of these properties is unclear,” said the vice-president of SRK.
“At the end of last year, we determined that the instruments that would allow us to quickly implement this investment are those contained in the 2010 Flood Protection Act,” he added.
This act allows for the rapid processing of matters related to obtaining permits for access to the site. However, the SRK is not listed in this document as an entity eligible to benefit from its provisions. Therefore, an agreement with the municipality became necessary. This, however, did not pave the way for regulating water conditions. Divergent interpretations of what is and what is not a flood control structure have emerged. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, the structures proposed by the SRK cannot be defined as such.
“We believe the opposite is true, because the goal has been achieved – our actions are aimed at protecting this area from flooding – and we believe that the terrain and all conditions predispose this area to flood risk. What we are designing also falls within the scope of this act, including flood control polders, flood control reservoirs, regulatory structures, and all other structures functionally and technically related to them,” argued the vice-president of the SRK.
As a reminder, he said this in mid-April. A few months ago and… a few sinkholes formed a few months ago. Because that’s how you measure the passage of time in Trzebinia.
Michał Wroński, journalist for the regional website SlaZag.pl
A state research institute, also known as a National Research Institute (PRI), is a special status granted to Polish scientific and research institutes that perform tasks of particular importance for the planning and implementation of state policy, the performance of which is essential to ensuring public defense and security. These tasks involve the development and review of standards, including those related to the management of natural resources, environmental protection, and technical and energy security. A second area of public responsibility involves monitoring and preventing the effects of phenomena and events that may pose a public threat, including preventing the effects of natural or technological disasters.
PRI status may be granted to an institute at the request of the supervising minister, after consultation with the minister responsible for higher education and science and the minister responsible for public finances.
On August 25, 2023, the Central Mining Institute (GIG) obtained the status of a state research institute, and from that date onward, its proper name is the Central Mining Institute – State Research Institute.
The change is introduced by the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 24 July 2023 on granting the Central Mining Institute the status of a state research institute (Journal of Laws of 2023, item 1579). According to the Regulation, the Institute’s tasks, particularly important for planning and implementing state policy, include monitoring geodynamic and hydrogeological hazards in mining and post-mining areas in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, as well as radiation hazards, including:
GIG is the only National Research Institute (PIB) among the institutes supervised by the Minister of State Assets. Importantly, for GIG-PIB clients and partners, the name change does not result in a change of the entity that was and remains a party to existing agreements, nor does it result in any modifications to the Institute’s obligations or the mutual rights and obligations arising from the agreements concluded by the Institute.
The Institute’s core activities continue to include conducting scientific research and development work on: industrial safety; protection of personnel and the work environment; technologies for the exploitation, enrichment, and processing of minerals and improving the efficiency of the mining industry; clean coal technologies; efficient energy generation and use; environmental protection; development and implementation of environmental protection technologies and devices; materials and products for special applications; management of mineral resources, surface and groundwater, and waste; underground, civil, and hydraulic engineering; local and regional development, taking into account the problems arising from the social, economic, and economic impact of industrial restructuring; The capture and utilization of methane released and captured during underground mining operations in active, decommissioned, or abandoned hard coal mines. Other areas concern adapting research and development results to practical needs and implementing research and development results in the fields of engineering and technology, exact and natural sciences, and the humanities and social sciences.
The Central Mining Institute (GIG-PIB) includes competence centers, including those for Environmental Engineering (CIS), and the experimental testing ground at the “Barbara” Experimental Mine is the only facility in Europe where gas and dust explosion tests can be conducted under real-world conditions and machines and devices designed for operation in potentially explosive atmospheres can be tested. Since 2004, the Institute has been a notified body of the European Union and holds certification authority under the global IECEx scheme. As one of the few research institutes, it has had full academic authority to award doctoral and postdoctoral degrees in mining and engineering geology for almost 60 years. The history of research institutes in independent Poland dates back to the early 20th century –
On November 21, 1918, the Polish Government established the first State Central Epidemiological Institute, renamed the State Institute of Hygiene by a decree of the Council of Ministers of September 7, 1923. In 1925, the Barbara Experimental Mine was established, which became part of the Central Mining Institute after the war. The first research institutes were intended to streamline many areas of the country’s activity after the partitions and to implement tasks contributing to socio-economic development.
According to data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS), the number of entities engaged in R&D is increasing in Poland. In 2021, 7,370 entities were involved, a 15.5% increase compared to the previous year. Nearly half (48%) of expenditures on research and development activities were related to engineering and technical sciences. Currently, there are nearly 120 research institutes in the country, employing several thousand people in positions related to R&D. Research institutes are an integral part of the National Innovation System in Poland, which comprises institutions responsible for supporting the development of innovation, such as institutes, universities, and organizations and entities responsible for innovation policy and the commercialization of innovative solutions.
Sylwia Jarosławska-Sobór
Success usually has many fathers, but failure is always an orphan – this famous quote perfectly fits the situation surrounding the Polish battle over the shape of the EU methane regulation. Whether it ended in victory is, of course, debatable. Many experts in this field note that the most important demands put forward by the Polish side were rejected.
The fact is that at a difficult time for the industry, a cross-party coalition was successfully built (it’s a shame it happened at five to twelve, or perhaps even five past twelve). And while there are opinions that it didn’t achieve much, it was enough to make many proudly puff up their chests for medals. On the other hand, this loud, widely reported outcry contrasts painfully with the silence that reigned over this matter, despite the alarming signals sent long before by the Mining Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Suffice it to say that already in December 2021 (the same month the draft regulation was officially published), the Chamber of Inspectors (GIPH) submitted a letter to Kadri Simson, the EU Commissioner for Energy, indicating that the implementation of this legislation would trigger a socio-economic crisis, the collapse of numerous companies, and the loss of thousands of jobs. A month later – in January 2022 – the Chamber officially requested the Prime Minister of Poland to take “swift and decisive” action to prevent the implementation of certain provisions of the draft regulation.
The letter explicitly stated that the implementation of the EU proposal would lead to the premature closure of most underground coal mines operating in Poland. It noted that of the 21 mines operating in Poland, 16 are methane mines, none of which meet the requirements set forth in the draft. It explained why mines are forced to vent this gas from their workings and why it is impossible to utilize the entire volume captured by methane drainage systems, necessitating combustion or release into the atmosphere. It pointed out that implementing new methods of methane management requires time (and is unlikely to be completed by 2025) and massive investments, for which, in turn, funding sources are unavailable during the transition period. Finally, it highlighted the lack of implemented technologies enabling the economic use of low-concentration methane in ventilation shafts and the fact that proposed regulations regarding closed and abandoned mines are based on unreliable data, including methane emission levels. This means that “the costs of managing methane from such mines are unknown and could become a significant economic burden for countries like Poland.” “The proposed legislation will reduce the competitiveness of EU mining companies, as they will be treated worse than those outside the EU, who are merely encouraged to implement appropriate standards. Energy in countries like Poland will be based solely on imported coal, which, for obvious reasons, will significantly reduce energy security. The Chamber warned that the true goal of this legislation is not to reduce methane emissions, but to accelerate the closure of Polish hard coal mines.”
This letter, it should be added, was also received by, among others, the Ministers of State Assets and Climate and Environment, the then-Government Plenipotentiary for the Transformation of Energy Companies and Coal Mining, and the chairs of several parliamentary committees important to the coal sector. The Chamber also notified all Polish Members of the European Parliament of the matter. Trade unions and the management boards of mining companies were alerted. Back in November 2021 (when the content of the draft regulation was known mainly through leaks), the Chamber established a working group to address this issue, comprising representatives of coal companies, the Mine Restructuring Company, and the Central Mining Institute.
This was by no means an isolated initiative by the Chamber. The committee also returned to this topic in the following months of 2022. President Janusz Olszowski, as co-chair of the Tripartite Committee for the Social Security of Miners, twice asked government representatives at its meetings (in July and November 2022) to present the Polish government’s official position on the draft methane regulation to the social side. The response was silence.
“We have received absolutely no response. To date, we have not seen the Polish government’s official position on this matter,” President Olszowski said in an interview with the regional portal SlaZag.pl in April, when the fate of the document was still hanging in the balance.
“Also, among all the Polish MEPs, not a single person responded to us. No one responded substantively to our statement.” The only response we received was a letter from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister stating that the matter had been referred to the Ministry of State Assets, after which we received thanks from the MAP for bringing it to our attention and a promise that our suggestions would be taken into consideration. And that was it,” admitted the Chamber’s president.
As Janusz Olszowski emphasized, even the March 2022 report on the work of the team appointed by the President of the State Mining Authority to analyze selected issues related to reducing methane emissions in the energy sector did not elicit any reaction. This report fully confirmed the Chamber’s earlier warnings that almost none of the Polish mines were meeting the European Commission’s proposed requirements.
Before the December 2022 Council of the European Union meeting, through the European Coal and Lignite Association (EURACOAL), the Chamber requested mining organizations in 12 EU countries to form a united front against the proposed regulation. Ultimately, allies were found only in the Czech Republic and Slovenia, which is understandable because for the other EU countries the issue of mine methane is completely irrelevant in economic terms due to the fact that they simply no longer have a hard coal mining sector.
“We expected that, as part of the government initiative, the Polish authorities would also attempt to form a coalition with other countries to block this project at the EU Council level, but neither MEPs nor representatives of the Polish government have done anything in this regard,” the President of the Chamber of Mining and Mining Industry (GIPH) once again quoted the statement of the Chamber’s President for the SlaZag.pl portal.
Assessing the methane regulation adopted on May 9, 2023, today, representatives of the Chamber are far from enthusiastic. They point out that all the adopted provisions remain very unfavorable for the Polish mining industry. For example, the one prohibiting the flaring of mine methane if the design destruction and removal efficiency is below 99%, as well as the release of methane into the atmosphere from the system. As the Chamber points out, this means that “the ban on releasing methane into the atmosphere from the methane drainage system remains in force, as does the ban on flaring methane, as flaring with a 99% efficiency is currently impossible to achieve.” The Chamber further argues that the limit of 5 tons of methane per 1,000 tons of mined coal, adopted in December 2022 as part of the EU Council’s work and scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027, is insufficient for Polish mines, while the 3 tons of methane per 1,000 tons of mined coal, which is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2031, will be disastrous, as it is impossible to meet. In this context, the GIPH recalls that at the time, several Polish MEPs requested that this limit be set at 8 tons of methane per 1,000 tons of coal, but they failed to achieve it because they acted alone. According to the Chamber, the statement that the thresholds apply “per mine and per operator” is also highly questionable, as it implies that these thresholds should apply to both the mine and the coal company that owns multiple mines. The regulation’s provision, which allows EU member states to create a special incentive system for reducing methane emissions, to which money collected for violating the regulation’s provisions would be transferred, is also considered a success.
“Under the current legal framework, nothing prevented public funds, including those from coal companies, from being directed towards projects related to reducing methane emissions or the commercial use of this gas,” the Chamber points out in its analysis.
“Considering the above, claiming that a victory has been achieved in the form of the so-called methane compromise and publicizing it widely is simply ridiculous. If representatives of the Polish government, MEPs, and some union leaders had taken appropriate action at least a year earlier, they could have proved effective, and then there would have been no need for a massive PR campaign to turn failure into success,” commented the GIPH authorities.
Michał Wroński, journalist for the regional website SlaZag.pl
