Scandal in a Polish mountain shelter. This is how the environment was polluted
The famous mountain shelter became famous, but not because of its interesting accommodation offer or beautiful views, but because of a very unpleasant incident. It turned out that a mountain stream had been polluted there.
We are talking about a facility in the Jizera Mountains in Lower Silesia. The heart of this region is, among others, year-round Orle shelter. Tourists receive several dozen accommodation places in two buildings and enjoy active recreation. They usually have access to archery and air rifle shooting, cooking in cauldrons over a fire, four-wheeler rides, and mountaineering. This is where many irregularities allegedly occurred. It was revealed that sewage was poured into a mountain stream.
A scandal in a mountain shelter
The problem was noticed during an inspection of the Szklarska Poręba City Hall. It was shown that in the Orle shelter, sewage was discharged through four pipes to the Kamionek stream in the mountains. A fine of PLN 80,000 has already been imposed on the lessee of the facility – PLN 20,000 for each illegal pipe. It turns out that the problem was known to the officials, because such irregularities were also revealed during other inspections.
Tourists have long been complaining, among others: about the garbage lying around the shelter, but they also had to file complaints about the discharge of sewage. It turns out that the illegal pipes through which sewage was poured had been plugged earlier at the request of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station and Wody Polskie. After some time, however, someone unlocked them and started using them again to continue the malicious activity. The environmental protection inspector of the Szklarska Poręba City Hall informed the local media that this was the case. The tenant was unable to explain who was responsible for it and how it happened.
Who is to blame for releasing sewage?
The over 30-year-old tenant of the shelter, Stanisław Kornafel, blames the State Forests, the owner of the facility, for the leaky septic tank. He claimed that no one took any action to change the difficult situation.
As for the State Forests, they wring their hands over the poor condition of the shelter. Some time ago, they chose a new building manager – IZERA Sp. z o. o. based in Szklarska Poręba, but the previous host does not want to leave the facility. So far, even the police or the Forest Guard have not helped.
The problem is not only the need to seal the pipes, but also the impossibility of letting a new tenant in. The shelter is still operational and run by the former tenant – even though a new tenant has already been selected and the current tenant has expired.
