* Admissibility date reflects the date the case was officially registered. All other dates pertain to the date in which a stage was completed.
Case Description
The project comprises the construction of two out of five sections on the Western side of the expressway forming the Ring Road around Warsaw (29 km of the total planned 84 km), comprising (i) the S2 section from the Konotopa to the Pulawska interchanges (inclusive of about 4 km radial on the S79 from the Lotnisko to the Marynarska interchanges), and (ii) the S8 section from the Konotopa to the Powazkowska interchanges (Figure 1)
The complaint concerns the impact of section S2 of the Warsaw Ring Road project, that it i) will expose the buildings close to the expressway to noise and pollution ii) that the sewage and wastewater drainage of the project has not been properly planned and iii) that sewage water will be conducted into agricultural irrigation channels which could pollute surface and groundwater, as well as the soil. Moreover, the preparation of the land levelling for the project has caused flooding in the residential areas, which has caused serious damage and that no evaluation of vibration impacts of heavy trucks passing close to the houses has been carried out; heavy truck traffic risk damaging the buildings bordering the expressway. In general and overall the complaint concerns a total lack of public consultation and neglect of the community’s opinion on the location of the project.
The assessment of the EIB Complaints Mechanism (EIB-CM) showed that the promoter has taken preventative measures against the possible high exposure to noise and pollution of the buildings close to the road, such as special anti-noise screens and insulation belts of dense greenery. An ex-post implementation review after one year of operation of the expressway will evaluate the efficiency of the applied measures.
That further steps will be taken by the Promoter, in cooperation of the Municipality, to solve the possibly inappropriately functioning sewage with risk of flooding of the area. The EIB-CM had observed, during their inspection site-visit, that the water puddles on the construction sites were purely temporary, during the construction period and isolated to the construction area.
That the excavation works for the drainage ditches do not threaten the groundwater and soil in the area as the depth of the excavation will reach the groundwater table. Moreover, a system of clearing devices will be applied to protect the natural water from the polluted storm water.
In general, moreover, a full public consultation has been conducted in line with the applicable laws regarding this project.
Therefore the EIB-CM concludes to file the allegation regarding the exposure of the buildings to noise and pollution and the possible pollution of groundwater, with no recommendation and recommends the EIB operational services to closely follow-up on the progress of the Promoter in reaching an agreement with the Municipality for starting the sewage renewal works avoiding the potential flooding due to the inappropriate functioning of the sewage.