Last Stonava refuse dump is disappearing

STONAVA – The last refuse dump, located in the area of Stonava municipality, the ugly heritage of the former “9. květen” Mine (“9 May Mine”), is slowly disappearing. Daily, there are eight mammoth trucks of OKD, Doprava in service there to remove the refuse dump material some 10 kilometres further to the site of the former František Mine at Horní Suchá, where it is used as backup material to remedy the old sludge ponds.

“We started to liquidate the refuse dump at Nový Svět in August and have removed approximately 70 thousand tons of material up to now,“ Andrzej Santarius, Director of the Construction Machinery Section of OKD, Doprava informed. It represents almost 3,000 trucks with a 24-ton load or a 36 km long line of 12 m long trucks. As per estimates, it is still necessary to remove some 450,000 tons of the refuse dump material. OKD, Doprava should cope with this task by March next year.

“In the vacated area, trees will be planted and forestal landscape will be established there, similarly as on the neighbouring lands,“ specified Andrzej Santarius.

Ondřej Feber, Municipality Mayor, monitors the progress of liquidation of the last Stonava refuse dump with satisfaction. When he was promoting an Environment Recovery and Old Mining Liability Liquidation Programme eighteen years ago, when he came to the Stonava Town Hall, nobody believed too much in its expeditious implementation.

“Therefore, I am glad that thanks to the good cooperation with OKD, this Programme is now being fulfilled,“ stated Ondřej Feber. “We are not standing against the mines. We are aware that they ensure work for thousands of miners. Nevertheless, it does not mean that we would however resign the quality of people’s life at Stonava.  Thanks to the cooperative attitude of the miners, we are approaching the standards of modern European countries, where even in the centre of industrial agglomerations, there is an intact nature.“

(bk)