Battle for the hill. Miners need stone, locals want peace. It’s enough for them to live on the edge of a big coal mine

Braňany – In the small village behind Most, specifically in Braňany, things are boiling. Local residents were lifted from their chairs by the intention of miners from Severočeské doly a.s. to extract stone from Červené vrch, which rises only a few hundred meters from the village’s first houses. Last week, the miners tried to convince the residents of Braňany of the benefits of mining during a public presentation of the plan in the cultural center.

The strategic location of Červené vrch, whose core is a jingle, is a great attraction for miners. They want to use the local stone in the reclamation of the Bílina quarry and for sale to other interested parties. “Coal mining was planned until 2050. However, with regard to the Greendeal, we changed the plans and shortened them by twenty years. Part of the money is deposited into an escrow account from which reclamation will be paid. With regard to the change of plans, however, we need to save the necessary money earlier, and especially get the necessary raw material – stone. There is already a lack of that in our region,” began the CEO of Severočeské doly Ivo Pěgřímek.

Červený vrch is a Tertiary volcano whose funnel-shaped core forms a bell. Photo: Martin Prudky

And the stone is what’s going on here. Severočeské doly wants to get it from Červené vrch, which stands right on the edge of the quarry, de facto within reach. He would no longer have to import stone and buy it, and the company would also make money from mining. “The Červené vrch mining project is planned for 30 years, we would then undertake to recultivate the area in the same way as the Bílina quarry. We would build what you want there,” explained Ivo Pěgřímek at a meeting with the residents of Braňany.

The miners brought to the hall a model of what the area would look like after the end of mining. The model shows the already flooded Bílina quarry. The reclamation of excavated Červené vrch should take place according to the wishes of the residents of the village. Photo: jip

They were not softened even by the offer that the municipality should have three million a year in the budget in addition to the income guaranteed by law. “We have a quarry, we’ve been breathing dust from the quarry all our lives, now you still want us to agree that you will mine stone here, which you will blast with explosives, and thus we lost the only one of the two natural hills we have here ? We don’t want your millions and we don’t want you here either,” echoed from all sides of the hall.

Červený vrch forms a natural barrier that protects Braňany from the Litvín chemist. Right behind the hill is the Venus tailings pond. Photo: jip

Ivo Pěgrímek during the presentation of the stone mining plan from Červené vrch. Photo: jip

The only exceptions were the councilors, who had already given permission to the miners to drill exploratory wells in March. The intention of stone mining in the Červené vrch locality can be studied by the public. It is published until May 23 on the official board on the municipality’s website. “We elected you to take care of the development of our village. You are doing the exact opposite. Our barracks will burst, there will be even more dust. Heavy trucks will drive through the village and we don’t believe that nothing will be heard,” the locals were angry.

The vast majority of those present expressed great displeasure at the public presentation of the plan. Photo: jip

Another fact that angered Braňanská is the plan to sell a large part of the extracted stone. “According to calculations, it is possible to extract 18 million tons in 30 years. It is 600,000 tons per year, of which 480,000 tons are pure stone, the rest of the material will be used in the Bílina quarry. In a year, we will use 150 thousand tons of stone for our needs, we would sell 330 thousand tons on the market. There is a shortage of stone and it is needed for strategic linear constructions, i.e. for the construction of roads and railways. The quarries in the Ústí Region are at the limit of their service life,” emphasized Ivo Pěgřímek during the presentation.

According to representatives of the mines, mining would always take place from February to November, from Monday to Friday, in twelve-hour work shifts. The stone would be transported along the service asphalt road directly in the Bílina quarry. Alternatively, a section along the new road around Lake Most, so that heavy cars do not drive through the village.

The miners defended themselves against accusations that heavy trucks would drive through the village. They have to transport the stone intended for sale along the service road directly in the quarry to the railway transfer station. A smaller part would eventually be transported around Lake Most. Source: Severočeské doly, as

The locals do not want to accept the plan. “I assume that if the territorial plan is not changed, you cannot implement anything yet,” assured former deputy mayor Zuzana Koláčková. However, the locals expect that the ruling group in the village could support the plan, since it has a majority in the council. Therefore, they intend to organize a referendum in which the majority of the inhabitants of the village would express their opinion. On social networks, the Pro ŽIVOT group in Braňany has already set up a preparatory committee, which has already launched a signature campaign so that the documents for calling the referendum meet all the necessary requirements. “I am very sorry that no one from the village management was able to answer me about what, apart from money, mining will bring positive to the locals. If they were at least guaranteed that a hundred local people would have a well-paid job, then they already have an argument that I would accept, but this way it has more negatives than benefits for us,” added Zuzana Koláčková.

In the case of support with the start of mining, miners would also have to obtain confirmation as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure. “I doubt they’ll make it through the environment. The management of the village had the intention of building another construction of houses on the outskirts of Braňany, and they failed precisely with the justification that we have so little nature here that they will not allow its further encroachment,” concluded one of the residents of the village.