The Espenhain mine, south of Leipzig was one of the industrial centers of coal processing in the former GDR. In this area selected organic compounds were analyzed in different used soils. Samples were taken at different distances from the industrial emitters. The concentrations of most organic compounds stemming from processing of brown coal decrease rapidly with increasing distance from main emitters. In dependence on the different use of soils considerable differences of concentrations were found. The determinated concentrations of some organic compounds are higher than current critical values.