According to Antje Grothus, member of the Green Party, there are still plots of land at the mine that do not belong to the energy company RWE. Even if Lützerath is cleared, the dismantling cannot take place as planned.
“In the area of the currently approved operating plan for the Garzweiler opencast mine there are areas whose owners do not want to sell to RWE. This means that there is a risk of lengthy and legally uncertain expropriations in the planned mining area even after Lützerath has been vacated,” Antje Grothus said, according to “24 Rhein”.
This is what the village of Lützerath looks like from afar.
IMAGO/ANP
The affected areas are within the main operating plan for coal mining 2023 to 2025, but RWE is not allowed to use them, Grothus said. She demands: “In order to maintain social peace in the region in the coming years, a replanning of the opencast mine is necessary. It must be managed in such a way that RWE no longer takes anyone’s field away.”
She also demands that the eviction be stopped until a new, socially acceptable plan is available. “I know from my own experience what dangers a large-scale clearance poses for everyone involved. I therefore ask everyone in whose power it is to call off the eviction and go back to the discussion and negotiation table.”
RWE itself has already warned the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Economics that not all the properties are in their possession. According to “24 Rhein”, a document says: “Further property procurement unresolved; further impairment with reductions in coal and overburden likely.” (smk)