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Description
This project is a response to a situation where the local authorities have concealed information about the implementation of an investment that has a negative impact on the environment and the lives of local residents. In October 2022, the head of the Żeszczynka village in the Sosnówka Municipality received a letter to conduct a public consultation on the construction of a poultry farm. The farm is to process 8 million hens per year and will be located in close proximity to farms with certified organic farming. It turned out that the Mayor of Sosnówka Municipality had already been carrying out this procedure since May 2022 without informing the people concerned. After the information was given to the residents, an organised social movement was formed in Sosnówka, which we joined as a party to the administrative proceedings. The community of Żeszczynka opposes the investment. It is conducting an information campaign and applying for assistance. The total annual water demand of the farm was determined in the investor''s environmental report to be 70,884 m3/year. The data in the documentation was given in a selective manner – the report is based on a comparison of the farm''s water consumption with the resources of the territorial water allocation unit, which includes 10 counties. The total annual water consumption for the entire Sosnówka Municipality, documented in the ‘Environmental Protection Programme for the Sosnówka Municipality’ of 2004, was 67,100 m3/year. As part of the project, we are conducting a series of information and training meetings, during which we present the overall picture of the situation and the problems regarding such investments (more investments of a similar nature are planned in the area). We disseminate the message on social media and through printed brochures. Our aim is to raise awareness among residents about the impact of poultry farms on the environment and the lives of local people.
Summary of project results
The history of this project began with the fact that on October 3, 2023, the village head of Żeszczynka received a letter regarding public consultations in the procedure for building a poultry farm on 12 ha, ultimately processing 8 million hens per year, in close proximity to farms with certified organic crops and agritourism farms. The village head of Żeszczynki actually started discussing this topic with the residents. At the end of October, an organized social movement was created. The community of Żeszczynka stood against this investment, started conducting information campaigns and asking various institutions for help, because it would have a huge negative impact on the lives of residents. Focusing only on the aspect of drinking water intake, according to the investor''s documentation, the farm would collect water from Quaternary formations, the same ones from which the water supplying the entire Sosnówka commune is drawn, in a larger amount than the entire commune.
The total annual water demand of the farm was determined in the Investor''s environmental report at 70,884 m3/year. The data provided in the documentation showing that groundwater consumption will increase unnoticeably are based on the comparison of water consumption by the farm in question to the entire resources of the territorial water division unit JCWPd 67 (covering the Biała Podlaska poviat and 9 others). However, the total annual water consumption in the Sosnówka commune, documented in the "Program
environmental protection for the Sosnówka Commune", developed on the basis of an agreement concluded between the Mayor of the Sosnówka Commune and the Municipality. Scientific Organization and Management, branch in Lublin, 2004, amounted to 67,100 m3/year. It should be emphasized that with the current water consumption, the commune often experiences drought in the summer. Additionally, water supplies are not secured by connecting the water supply system of the Sosnówka Commune to other water supply systems.
In the context of such events, we decided to prepare this project to reach a wider audience in the region, as it turned out that similar practices are ongoing throughout the Biała Podlaska district.
We managed to organize and conduct 5 meetings with residents of the area covered by our activities. The meetings took place in Kodeń, Żeszczynka, Horbowo, Dubica Dolna and Dubica Górna. The meetings were attended by specialists in the environmental impact of industrial farms, such as Mr. Bartosz Zając from "Otwarte Klatki" and Mr. Jarosław Urbański. The meeting participants also included representatives of local government authorities, such as Mr. Mariusz Kiczyński, Chairman of the Biała Podlaska County Council, and the village head of Żeszczynka.
We created 7 original animations and 21 graphics and information posts, which are published on our FB and Instagram accounts. All entries related to the project on our profiles reached a total of 19,174 views on FB and 3,093 on IG. An original scientific work was prepared by Dr. J.M. Kupca, published in 62 copies, titled "Issues of the operation of animal industrial farms and their potential nuisance to the environment, natural elements and humans" and distributed. We have provided this publication with an ISBN number.
In the context of this project, the most important thing was that we reached the residents and helped them make informed decisions on a topic that was and is very controversially pursued by some local authorities together with investors.
An original work on the environmental impact of industrial poultry farms was prepared and published by us in 62 copies, entitled: "Issues of the operation of animal industrial farms and their potential nuisance to the environment, natural elements and humans." We have given this publication an ISBN number and it has 133 pages.
Four editions of the information brochure were prepared and published, totaling 950 copies.
We conducted 5 information meetings and attended a total of 159 people. The meetings were conducted by our team and invited specialists in the environmental impact and activities of industrial farms, such as Mr. Bartosz Zając from "Otwarte Klatki" and Mr. Jarosław Urbański. The meeting participants also included representatives of local government authorities involved in activities on this topic on the part of the residents, such as Mr. Mariusz Kiczyński, Chairman of the Biała Podlaska County Council and the village head of Żeszczynka, as well as guests from Lublin,
Siedlce and further rural areas.
We are convinced that the residents present at the meetings left with greater knowledge about the impact and functioning of industrial poultry farms and about the resources and rights they are entitled to. This can be measured by the growing scale of social involvement around the topic, because we started our activities with residents exactly a year ago from scratch, and today the topic of industrial poultry farms built in the Biała Podlaska region against the will of the residents has become a topic of national policy, several activists have already participated in meetings of parliamentary committees, and the copy we provided of the work of Dr. J.M. The buyer also went to the new deputy marshal, Dorota Niedziela.