Environmental protection

Abandonment of wells and boreholes is performed in accordance with the Geological and Mining Law and applicable secondary legislation. Abandoned wells are permanently marked in the field, in accordance with the Regulation of the Minister of Economy of April 25th, 2014 on specific requirements for the operation of mining facilities producing minerals through wells, the Regulation of the Minister of Economy of June 12th, 2002 on mining rescue, and with the ‘Mine Operations Manager Guidelines on securing, temporary plugging and abandonment of boreholes and wells’.

Environmental protection initiatives connected with drilling for both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons are carried out in accordance with the applicable Polish and EU laws, as well as internal good practice documents.

On September 1st, 2016, a regulation of the Minister of Environment was adopted concerning the procedure of assessing soil contamination, which necessitated a new approach towards planned remediation of the soil-water environment on non-producing assets where municipal gas production from hard coal in the past caused changes in the environment and local pollution. As part of a remediation plan, priority must be given to tests assessing the state of the environment as well as development of cheaper and more effective methods of removing pollutants. Tests conducted to date may no longer be used to support applications for approval of remediation plans. Tender documentation was drafted for the first two properties: Barlinek and Szprotawa, where in-situ bioremediation is planned. The tender procedures are pending. It is expected that the planned biological remediation methods will deliver environmental benefits, considerably reduce costs of bringing the properties into compliance with applicable standards, and will make it possible sell the properties in future without any risk. Additionally, monitoring was conducted of the soil-water environment of the reclaimed landfill site in Zabrze-Biskupice and a property in Zabrze.

Environmental protection initiatives carried out in the vicinity of the Kosakowo Cavern Underground Gas Storage Facility (CUGSF) involved continued land and sea monitoring to assess the project’s environmental impacts during its construction and operation, as part of two programmes: the environmental monitoring programme of May 2009 and the basic and emergency control programme for the Kosakowo CUGSF of April 2014.

The programmes cover monitoring of underground and surface water, soil, tightness of the storage facility, vertical earth surface movements, the impact of discharged brine on waters of the Puck Bay, as well as the technical condition and proper operation of the installation for discharging brine from leached caverns to the Puck Bay. The surveys and observations conducted so far indicate that the construction and operation of the Kosakowo CUGSF do not have any negative impacts on the environment.

Monitoring activities are also conducted by personnel of the Mogilno CUGSF; detailed analyses of water and soil samples were carried out by an accredited laboratory, tests were performed by the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków to monitor the tightness of the Z-8 and Z-11 caverns, and chromatographic analysis of gas from five control wells was carried out by PGNiG Branch – Central Measurement and Testing Laboratory. The surveys and observations conducted so far indicate that the construction and operation of the Mogilno CUGSF do not have any negative impacts on the environment.

The emission volumes were lower than in previous years thanks to a wide-ranging investment programme involving construction and upgrade of flue gas desulfurisation units, construction of NOx reduction units, and modernisation of dust removal units. In 2016, the Siekierki CHP Plant operated a biomass-fired unit (converted from a coal-fired boiler), which contributed to a reduction of pollutant emissions and helped lower CO₂ emissions in 2016, to 5,478,745 tonnes. In 2016, PGNiG TERMIKA discharged 155.9 mcm of spent cooling water and 1.6 mcm of wastewater into surface water. The volume of ash and slag generated in 2016 was 536 thousand tonnes, including 53 thousand tonnes of ash classified as a by-product. Also, 59 thousand tonnes of gypsum was generated as a by-product from the flue gas desulfurisation units. All this waste and by-products were transferred for recycling (production of cement and building materials, mining, road engineering and land reclamation).