GB No. 1(16)/95
The case of an extremely expensive and harmful to the environment investment of constructing a radio station in G±bin was handled in a very strange and quick way. Without going into detail that some regulations were broken, there are still some questions, which, strangely enough, cannot be answered.
Maybe specialists already know the answers but society in a democratic, independent, self-governed and self-financed country should know the answers in order to be aware how the money from taxes is spent while other branches, like education or medical service, still lack money.
The mast for long-wave broadcasting was built in Raszyn in 193D. The radio station had power of 120kW and was one of the most powerful in Europe. The entire country, which was larger at the time by nearly 60,000km , was within its range. It was known then that long waves are liable to any kind of static and civil radio communication in the world is gradually ceasing to use them. It is easy to see that most radios produced in the West, especially new generation ones, is not equipped with that band.
The decision to build the mast was made without conducting Environmental Impact Assessment (OO¦ - Ocena Oddziaływania na ¦rodowisko) and without preparing any financial plan (or it was never made public if prepared). It was stated that the radio station would have to have power of 75kW, that is about 800 times more than the former one and 100 times more than the post-war mast in Raszyn. In the north and south of the country the signal will exceed sensitivity of a standard radio.
Another thing that was not discussed was whether a satellite, for example TV Polsat or Polonia For the East, could compete with the mast, especially when costs are compared. Power of such an satellite is 100 times (or more) smaller than power of the pre-war radio station and so is the biological impact. It should be emphasised that we ought to follow European pollution standards if we want to be given access to Europe. For example, when considering electromagnetic fields, the Swedish limit is 25V/m while the Polish one is 5V/m. This is the difference, which reflects health care and explains why lifespans are different. For those who are illinformed: immediately after the war the average lifespan in Poland and Sweden was the same. Now the Swedes live longer by 10 years.
The cost of broadcasting by satellite is much lower and static is hundreds of times less intensive.
Since long waves are not used in civil communication then the only user is the army, especially the navy. What is characteristic of long waves is that they can spread underwater while short and medium waves are reflected off the surface of water. It can be checked in diaries of German generals from the Second World War. They wanted to capture Raszyn so quickly in order to send orders to U-boats.
Now a question (for the Minister of National Defence - Minister Obrony Narodowej) arises: do Polish submarines operate in the Atlantic or by the coast of Florida? And, if so, there is another question (for the Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister Spraw Zagranicznych): is it Polish reason of the state that our submarines should have such distant missions in the stage of joining NATO?
If both answers are negative then whose submarines communicate by means of our mast and who is interested in its extension, which will be financed by us?
And another question (for MPs): why did the speakers on the platform in the Parliament talk rubbish (or, sometimes, sense) when discussing the protest of the inhabitants of G±bin? And why the real questions were not asked by anybody? Two answers are theoretically possible. The MPs were not familiar with these fundamental issues or for some reason they did not want to ask such questions. And another question: if it had been lack of knowledge then who is anxious for cuts in expenses for education and why?III
But if they had known...
Andrzej Pomorski
reprinted from Zielone Brygady 2/95