Jobbik: Water pollution at power plant requires public probe

The opposition Jobbik party has lodged a request for information in the public interest concerning alleged water pollution at the Mátra Power Plant, in northern Hungary.

Neither the general public nor residents of the surrounding area were duly informed about the pollution on Nov. 12 at the lignite fired power plant, Róbert Dudás, an MEP of the nationalist party, said at a news conference on Saturday.

The disaster management authority has acknowledged the high level of air pollution inside the area of the power plant, he added.

He noted that a cereals processing plant operates next to the power plant, adding that the waterways in the area had already been exposed to severe pollution this year. He called for the relevant data to be made available and noted that Jobbik has turned to the relevant ministry and the local council for information in the public interest.

“I’d like to know whether what has been officially classified as “muddy” water — though Greenpeace has described it as waste water — is hazardous to people living in the surrounding villages, and whether it has polluted the water base and farmland nearby,” he said.

Jobbik MP Tibor Nunkovics said the plant produced almost 20 percent of Hungary’s energy supply and around the same proportion of its carbon emissions.

He added that the decommissioning and replacement of the Mátra plant in the medium term would be necessary in order for the country to keep to its international climate commitments.

Source: MTI