Residents of Ełk are struggling with the problem again unpleasant odours. The problem affects residents of different parts of the city, and in In some locations, a perceptible odor hinders daily functioning and reduces the comfort of life.

From the reports received by the Office, it appears that the probable source of the issue is the activity of the plant in Nowa Wieś Ełcka.

On Monday (17 August), the Mayor of the City of Ełk Tomasz Andrukiewicz sent a letter to the President of the Management Board of the company with a request for clarification situation:

"[...] Please let me know if you have recently non-standard situations occurred (e.g. failures, maintenance work, technological process) that may have been the cause of increased emissions odours. I also ask you to indicate the remedial actions that the company is taking and intends to take steps to prevent similar incidents in the future."

In a letter addressed to the President of the Management Board, the Mayor of the City Ełk also asked for the development of a mechanism for informing local community:

"At the same time, I ask the company to work out mechanism for directly informing the local community (e.g. through announcements on the website or in local media) about the planned maintenance work or possible failures that may result in odour nuisances. Reliable information about the causes problems will eliminate doubts about the source of the issue and show whether the company feels responsible for the inconveniences they have to face residents."

It is worth noting that the plant operates abroad administrative authorities of the city, which makes the local government not the competent authority direct control of that entity. Therefore, the letter addressed to the company has also been sent to institutions with the appropriate competences and legal instruments - Marshal's Office of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in Olsztyn and the Voivodeship Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Olsztyn.

The Ełk City Hall informs about problems with odour nuisances are any institutions that have legal and control procedures to be able to intervene in this matter. To enable inspections to to act effectively, it is crucial to document each incident. Scale i The reproducibility of the problem is best seen in official reports residents.

Cases of increased odour nuisance can be report:

• via the "Report intervention" available on the website of the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection – click here
• in the mObywatel application – in the "Services" tab → "Environment" → "Infringement environmental issues"

The above-mentioned letter is not the first intervention Office and the Mayor of the City of Ełk on odour nuisances appearing in the city. An effective tool to combat such problems would be the "anti-odor law" - the authorities of Ełk have requested its adoption by the Sejm to the government and parliamentarians in recent years.

About the company's response and the steps taken by the control bodies we will keep you informed. In the coming days, the president is to meet in person with a representative of the company.