Regular monitoring of soil and plants in the surroundings of Żelazny Most tailings impoundment has been held since 1996. The results presented in this paper refer to potatoes and grains of cereals such as wheat, barley, triticale and oats, which are the most popular crops planted in that area in 2004 - 2006. The average content of heavy metals in 2006 in cereals and potatoes was approximately: Cu – 3.7 and 1.3 mg kg-1 of fresh mass; Zn – 20.6 and 3.5 mg kg-1; Pb – 0.14 and 0.04 mg kg-1; Cd – 0.055 and 0.011 mg kg-1, respectively. All those concentrations are well below threshold limit values accepted in Poland. No significant differences in Cu, Pb and Cd concentrations between the tested cereals were found. Zinc concentration in wheat and oat was significantly lower than in barley and triticale. The copper ore tailings impoundment in Żelazny Most, although very large, at present has no negative impact on the quality of crops and species of cereals and pasture plants cropped in its surroundings.