On November 3, 2016, Lviv Circuit Administrative Court ruled in favor of International Charitable Organization “Environment-People-Law” and ordered to release permits, project documentation and land documentation of “Agro-Lemberg” Ltd.
The conflict is that the company is building a pig farm with the capacity of 11,422 pigs in the village of Duliby Zhydachiv district, Lviv region with numerous violations. The State Environmental Inspectorate informed the community of the village that “Lemberg-Agro” Ltd has not submitted any documents to approve the land ownership, renovation of non-residential premises was carried out without the appropriate permits, construction materials during the renovation were stored on fertile soil damaging the land, while permits for emissions of pollutants into the air are in the process of development.
Therefore, while the villagers of Duliby were suffocating because of the stench, the director of the company Ivanets N. V. having no permits for construction, continued to ignore protests of local residents and talk about the deliberate obstacles for their business.
In court, EPL lawyers stated that release of information under the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information” is the duty of “Lemberg-Agro” Ltd, not its right.
Taking into consideration arguments of EPL lawyer, the court reminded to the lawyer of the pig farm of their obligation disclose environmental information in timely and full manner and ordered him to provide all requested documents before the next court hearing. The representative of the defendant decided not to come to the next hearing.
Nadiya, a resident of the village of Duliby and client of EPL, who participated in the last trial, commented the absence of the lawyer Pavlovsky in the following way: “It is obvious why the attorney did not come since the court requested documents while the fact is that “Lemberg-Agro” just does not have these documents! And everybody knows that. ”
Nadiya’s neighbor Olha, whose house is just 260 meters from the pig farm, after the announcement of the positive decision says that the fight has just begun, “This is only the first positive decision in favor of EPL and Duliby community. We will not give up and will make “Lemberg-Agro” Ltd comply with environmental laws and take due account of interests of villagers. Unless they do this, we will not allow them to work.”
Resolution of Lviv Circuit Administrative Court will come into force 10 days after the defendant receives a copy of the resolution.
For further information please contact:
Nazar Shparyk, EPL lawyer
tel .: (032) 225 – 76 – 82
Email: office@epl.org.ua; nazar.shparyk@gmail.com
