There is an ecological disaster and a landslide of the whole hill. Brine threatens the groundwater, showed
Kiča filed a motion to the General Prosecutor’s Office.
Prešov. The problem with the flowing brine in Solivar Prešov has been dragging for over fifteen years. The hill on which the salt was once mined is drilled as a rumor. There is a risk that it will fall away and the brine still leaks.
More than 150 closed wells remained in the mining area. However, some of them still escape, which hinders, for example, gardeners around. And not just that. Solena also threatens the groundwater, as confirmed by a new geological study.
The remediation of the territory has been discussed for years, the problem is its financial demands. The City of Prešov requires the Ministry of the Environment to include the territory in the register of old mining works. Otherwise, it will consider the statement of the emergency situation.
Currently, in this context, the submission of the General Prosecutor’s Office has already been made.
Kiča filed a motion to the General Prosecutor’s Office
According to the city, solving problems according to the city prevents the registration of the former solivars in the register of old mining works by the Ministry of the Environment, which first rejected the application for registration and subsequently did not respond to the appeal.
Former State Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment Michal Kiča (Democrats) filed an announced initiative at the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Slovak Republic, which asks for investigating the procedure of the Ministry and the application of the funds of the prosecutor’s supervision.
« This initiative was registered at the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Slovak Republic on 25 April 2025, and was assigned to the relevant prosecutor who decides on it legally within the statutory period, » the spokeswoman confirmed the adoption of the initiative General Prosecutor’s Office SR Zuzana Drobová.
According to Kič, the subject of the violation of the law should be a decision on not writing the mining spaces of Solivar in the register of old mining works. At the same time, such a decision establishes the obligation of the State to proceed with its security and possible liquidation.
According to the former Secretary of State, both legal conditions for automatic registration in the register are met, ie it is a mining work whose original operator does not exist or is not known and is an abandoned mining work.
The last well -known owner of the boreholes, which was the Prešov company Ekofarma, was deleted from the Commercial Register without a legal successor and the administration and security of the mining work is currently being carried out by any entity on the basis of the initiative of Prešov 1 August 2024.
The town of Prešov demands the enrollment of Solivar in the register of old mining works Read
Envirorezort: The drill we can dispose of
The Ministry of the Environment claims that he knows the problem and will be cooperated, but at the same time claims that the registration record itself will not solve the problem. Especially the Ministry of Economy is responsible for the elimination of an ecological threat. This did not respond to our questions.
« Solivars and its mining wells are a long -term problem whose solution is mainly under mining legislation in the competence of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic.
« However, the fact is that the Ministry of the Environment in no way prevents the Ministry of Economy from being operated in the liquidation of mining wells.
According to his opinion, the head of the department Tomáš Tarababa (CIS nominee) in 2024 ensured the financing of a new study of the State Geological Institute Dionýza Štúr, which confirmed the serious negative impacts of brine on the environment in Solivar.
The argumentation of the Ministry in a negative answer to the failure to meet the conditions, referring to the presence of stocks of stone salt or the existence of an exclusive deposit, described Kiča as legally irrelevant and also illogical, since every old mining work always contains mineral reserves.
« The Ministry is a special -purpose argument that seems to be an effort to avoid the responsibility of the state for fulfilling the obligation of securing and disposal of the mining work. Settle Kiča.
What the study showed
The study identified several risks. She confirmed that mining wells have a negative impact on the environment and increase soil erosion, causing a decrease in the surface of the terrain.
« The brine flows out of mining wells and negatively affects the groundwater or waters of the nearby Baracký brook. Therefore, state geologists recommend taking measures to immediately stop the brine leakage with technical means and as soon as possible liquidation of mining wells in accordance with valid mining legislation. » Representatives of the self -government in April.
Corrective measures must be carried out by the competent district mining authority, respectively. Ministry of Economy.
The State Geologically Institute Dionýz Štúr prepared a new study of the condition of the influence of the Prešov I – Solivar for abiotic environmental components in the locality Solivary Prešov in 2024.
According to her, a brine leaking from damaged boreholes threatens the soil, groundwater, stream, increases erosion and causes a drop in the terrain. The hill with the mining area seems to be slowly falling. In the past, there has been a similar slump.
Soľanka has not been worked in Prešov for ten years. Only the problem remained Read
A ticking bomb in “Nobody’s territory”
Problems in Solivar arisen after the end of salt mining, which in this part of Prešov has taken place since 1572, modern leaching since 1946.
After the demise of Solivary, 86 hectares of abandoned territory remained in poor technical condition approximately fifteen years ago. Some have come into the hands of private companies, others are legally unclear. The state, private and self -government do not carefully care about the territory.
As a result, the soil falls under the carriage zone in places and the salt water is pushed to the surface through the damaged wells. The territory is officially subject to the entry ban, the violation is subject to a fine of EUR 1,660, but in fact people are normally walking there.
The situation is getting worse. Even before the results of the study were published, the crystallization of salt was visually visible as the brine derys to the surface.
Great noise and hissing. Problems in solivars persist even years after the end of mining Read
Who has the problem to solve?
The legal status is quite complicated. The mining space itself does not have a designated holder, the wells are private, the land has several owners, and the owner of the salt department is the state. In such a case, the Mining Act commands the Ministry of Economy through the District Mining Office.
Representatives of organizations under the Ministry of Economy declared, according to the city at the meeting, willing to technically ensure the remediation of wells, but lack funds. According to the municipality, they could also draw on the environmental fund, which has the support of the remediation of ecological burdens in the statute, but has not yet used them for a similar purpose.
However, the Ministry of the Environment points out that it has no competences for technical liquidation of mining works or financing them. The money from the environmental fund it manages is primarily intended for other purposes, such as the construction of sewerage, support for waste sorting or thermal insulation of public buildings.
« If the representatives of the Ministry of Economy want to use the environmental fund’s money to liquidate mining works, they refer to all municipalities in Slovakia that they will not receive money for sewerage, water protection, waste sorting, reducing energy costs and increasing the comfort of life in rural areas, » adds the Ministry of the Environment.
An extraordinary situation
In connection with solivars, the city also draws attention to the security risks in the form of abandoned objects where people are staying. The solution can be the fencing of the area, warning boards and regular monitoring of the city police.
If the state does not take the necessary steps, the city of Prešov is ready to take the initiative on itself and declare an emergency situation.
It declares the readiness to change the territorial plan, to limit the construction in endangered locations and enter into negotiations on taking liability. By the end of the summer, he expects clear steps from the state, otherwise it is also considering lawsuits on refund of expenses if he / she takes the initiative at its own expense.
At the same time, the city appeals to the public to avoid the risk area, as the entrance to the mining area is prohibited and may be fined.
Experts and representatives of the city agree that the solution is only possible in cooperation with the state. However, remediation of the territory is expensive. According to experts, it would require massive weighing of soil and could cost millions of euros. An alternative could be salt extraction.
Existed considerations The fact that there could be a small salt plant. In addition to ecological stabilization, salt could be used for industrial purposes, such as road maintenance. It would no longer take the pipes towards the railway station, where the former Solivars had their plant, but would be processed on the spot, in the inspection pool. So far, however, no investor has been found.
The most important reports from the east of Slovakia read to Korzar.sme.sk. All reports from Prešov and Scarch region can be found at Prešov Corsair
