EU court fines Poland 500,000 euros daily until mine closes

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The European Union’s top court has ordered Poland to pay a daily fine of 500,000 euros ($586,000) until it complies with an earlier ruling to shut down a lignite mine near the border with the Czech Republic and Germany. Poland refuses to close the Turow mine, arguing it supplies one of the country’s main power plants. Poland tried, but has so far failed to reverse the closure order in negotiations with Czech authorities who had sought to shut the mine down. On Monday, the EU’s Court of Justice said the fine was necessary to make Poland comply with the May’s order. Poland replied it cannot close the mine. The Czech Republic argues the open-cast mine is draining water from Czech villages in the area.