Poland: Coal's Deadly Toll

April 22, 2015 | Pulitzer Center

Beth Gardiner

Monika Bielek, a graphic designer, lives in one of Krakow's most polluted neighborhoods, where smoke pours from a neighbor's chimney. Her sons have bad coughs all winter and she treats them every night with a nebulizer to ease their breathing. Image by Monika Bielek. Poland, 2015.

Krakow residents buy coal for home furnaces at this lot on the edge of town. Many burn it in low tech, filterless old stoves, helping to make Krakow's air the third-worst in Europe. Image by Beth Gardiner. Poland, 2015.

Grzegorz Rumin loads a customer's car with coal. Rumin says a ban passed by the regional assembly on burning coal for home heating in Krakow will shut his business. The law, which supporters say is crucial to protect residents' health, is now at the center of a court fight. Image by Beth Gardiner. Poland, 2015.

A friend helps Zbigniew Jedrygas bring newly purchased coal into the shed behind his home. When the shed is full, he says, "I am secure and I can sleep well." Image by Beth Gardiner. Poland, 2015.

A worker loads coal into bags at a coal lot on the edge of Krakow. Owner Grzegorz Rumin says sales are way down since the 1990s, when a higher proportion of Krakow homes and institutions used coal for heat. Image by Beth Gardiner. Poland, 2015.

"Quality is our priority," says the banner at Grzegorz Rumin's coal lot. "100 percent Polish coal." However, experts say coal burned in Polish homes is often low quality and highly polluting. Image by Beth Gardiner. Poland, 2015.

Elektrownia Jaworzno III, a coal-fired power plant near Myslowice, in Poland's coal heartland of Silesia. Image by Beth Gardiner. Poland, 2015.

On a winter day, black smoke wafted from most of the home chimneys in Myslowice, in Poland's coal heartland of Silesia, creating a thick, visible haze. Acrid smoke from this building made throats and eyes burn. "Coal in bags," reads the sign. Image by Beth Gardiner. Poland, 2015.

Karolina Zolna says many children in her hometown, Myslowice, struggle to breathe after just a few minutes of exercising. She blames the town's terrible pollution for a bout of pneumonia that put her infant daughter in the hospital for four months. Image by Beth Gardiner. Poland, 2015.

Elektrownia Jaworzno III power plant. Poland gets nearly 90 percent of its electricity from coal. One study showed pollution from such plants in Poland kills 5,300 people a year and creates €8.2 billion in health costs. Image by Beth Gardiner. Poland, 2015.

Elektrownia Siersza, a coal-fired power plant in Silesia, Poland. Image by Beth Gardiner. Poland, 2015.

Elektrownia Siersza, a coal-fired power plant, is visible in the distance from the village of Czyżówka. Image by Beth Gardiner. Poland, 2015.

Coal smoke comes from the home chimneys of Czyżówka. The Elektrownia Siersza power plant is visible in the distance. Image by Beth Gardiner. Poland, 2015.

Coal plays a central role in Polish life, keeping people warm during bitter winters and providing nearly 90 percent of the country's electricity. Poles also suffer from air that is among the worst in Europe, particularly in Krakow, where soot from home coal furnaces hangs over the city all winter. At a lot on the outskirts of the elegant medieval city, buyers load coal into car trunks. In industrial Silesia, coal-fired power plants are everywhere, and vast piles of the fuel many call "Polish gold" sit alongside mines.