The Management Board of the Municipal Water and Sewage Company in Warsaw conducts a controlled discharge of sewage to Warsaw as a result of a failure of the collector at the Czajka sewage treatment plant - the President of the capital, Rafał Trzaskowski, informed on Wednesday. As it turned out, however, this was not the whole truth. The plant’s failure occurred on Tuesday early in the morning, but the letter from the Warsaw water supply company to the Provincial Inspectorate of Environmental Protection arrived only today before noon. The Minister of the Environment, Henryk Kowalski, informed that the failure of the plant may last for weeks.

The Minister of the Environment Henryk Kowalczyk informed on Wednesday afternoon that both collectors supplying sewage to the „Czajka” sewage treatment plant are inoperative and practically all sewage flows into the Vistula River. The minister pointed out that as a result of the accident, huge amounts of sewage had entered the Vistula, adding that with an exceptionally low level of the river this concentration is enormous. As Kowalczyk said, the sewage flowing into the river poses a threat to human health and the environment.

It will certainly cause enormous environmental damage. Ecological disaster

— the head of the Ministry of the Environment said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The situation is serious: these are hectolitres of waste that fall into the Vistula River, it is an ecological disaster

— said the Minister of Health Łukasz Szumowski, referring to the breakdown of collectors delivering sewage to the Czajka sewage treatment plant in Warsaw.

The Ministry of the Environment and Polish Waters declared all assistance to the MPWiK in Warsaw in resolving the problem. The Polish Army is ready to help in the fight against the effects of contamination of the Vistula by the Warsaw sewage system - wrote Mariusz Błaszczak, the head of the Ministry of Defense on Wednesday on Twitter.

The Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection announced on Wednesday afternoon that the danger after the accident in the „Czajka” sewage treatment plant may last about a month. At the same time, he recommended the implementation of emergency measures by entities exploiting water intakes from the Vistula. He also warned fishermen and farmers against pollution.

The President of the capital, Rafał Trzaskowski (Civic Platform), is strongly criticized for not adopting a sufficiently serious approach to the issue.

Tłum. K.J.