Updated on 08/14/2022 at 23:14
- The cause of fish death in the Oder is still unclear.
- After widespread public criticism, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke is now demanding answers from Poland.
- So far, the clarification of the fish kill, which is classified as an environmental catastrophe, has been quite slow.
Before the meeting with her Polish counterpart, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) demanded clarification on the background to the death of fish in the Oder. The neighboring country’s government had already admitted that information about the environmental disaster was also not passed on in Poland, she told NDR Info on Sunday. “This information came to us much later.” The purpose of the Sunday night meeting must now be “to solve this crime”. She is awaiting clarification on which water samples have been analyzed so far and what could be the cause of the damage.
“Once such a catastrophe has occurred in a river, the damage is there and can only be limited,” Lemke said of the effects of fish death. For days, there have been open criticisms that Poland failed to provide information on fish kills in a timely manner and failed to comply with reporting chains. However, the search for the cause continues. Further laboratory results are expected in Brandenburg on Monday. Among other things, it is verified whether the increase in the salt content in the water is related to the death of the fish.
Possibly too much chemical waste to blame
The Polish government suspected that a huge amount of chemical waste might have been dumped into the Oder. Poland has offered a reward of more than 200,000 euros to clear up the fish death, which has been classified as an environmental disaster. The state environment ministers of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern also wanted to attend joint consultations between neighboring Poland and Germany on Sunday evening in Szczecin.
However, the people of the Baltic Sea are also worried. According to the Ministry of the Environment in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, no fish carcasses have been discovered in the German part of the Szczecin Lagoon. “So far, the water police have not located any bodies, and residents have not reported anything of the kind to us. However, we are still on alert and are monitoring the situation there very closely,” said Minister of State Till Backhaus. (SPD) on Sunday in Schwerin.
Several tons of dead fish are expected
Hundreds of helpers collected dead animals in Brandenburg’s Oder border area over the weekend. On the coast of the small town of Lebus, in the district of Märkisch-Oderland, an unpleasant smell spread on Saturday due to decomposition, as a dpa reporter reported. You can also see birds flying with dead fish. Rescuers wore rubber boots and gloves to protect themselves from direct contact with the water and fish. “I’m counting on several tons of fish that we’ve taken,” Thomas Rubin told the district administration on Friday.
The mayor of Schwedt an der Oder, Annekathrin Hoppe (SPD), described the fish slaughter as an environmental catastrophe of unprecedented proportions. Representatives of the Lower Oder Valley National Park fear that the effects could drag on for years. Meanwhile, left-wing Bundestag member Christian Görke called on the federal government to pledge financial aid to affected cities and businesses.
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke agrees with better coordination
Already on Saturday night, Federal Environment Minister Lemke spoke of initial problems in cooperation with neighboring Poland in investigating the death of fish in the Oder. You have now agreed to better coordination, said the green politician during a visit to Frankfurt (Oder) near the border. “The issue of German-Polish cooperation obviously did not work at this point.”
According to Brandenburg Environment Minister Axel Vogel (Greens), the Oder “greatly increased the loads of salt”. They are salts dissolved in water. According to the Ministry of State, this may be related to the death of the fish. “According to current knowledge, however, it will not be a single factor that caused the death of fish in the Oder.”
Analyzes show increased levels of salt
In Poland, too, analyzes indicated an increase in salt levels in the water, as Environment Minister Anna Moskwa told the PAP news agency. “The high salinity of the Oder may have activated other toxic substances in the water or bottom sediment. Toxicological testing of the fish will help identify any pollutants that contributed to the animals’ deaths.” The Polish government does not see the heavy metal mercury as the cause.
In late July, according to the government, Polish authorities had indications that there were masses of dead fish floating in the river. The government and authorities are now being criticized for not passing on the information in a timely manner. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki therefore fired the heads of the water authority and the environmental authority on Friday night. He only found out about the massive fish kill on Wednesday. “I was definitely informed too late.” (dpa/cgo)
Updated on 08/11/2022 at 16:28
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