Status: 08/22/2022 3:43 p.m
The search for the causes of the fish kills in the Oder continues. Federal Environment Minister Lemke called for the river expansion to be stopped. At the same time, her ministry rejected the Polish “fake news” accusation.
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) has called for the Oder expansion to be stopped for shipping in view of the fish kill. “In the case of the dramatic environmental catastrophe, which is currently happening 500 kilometers along the Oder river with a massive death of fish, it becomes drastically clear that waters that are already heavily polluted must be specially protected,” she said. The expansion of the Oder “puts an additional burden on this valuable ecosystem”. Instead, Lemke called for renaturation measures.
In 2015, Germany and Poland agreed to expand the Oder. An action alliance is suing against the project, but construction is already underway on the Polish side. The approximately 500 km long Oder is one of the last large, near-natural rivers in Europe.
Polish “fake news” allegations rejected
The federal government rejected Polish allegations in connection with the fish kill in the Oder. “We regret that the Polish side came to this assessment,” said a spokesman for the Federal Environment Ministry, referring to the accusation from Warsaw that Germany was spreading “fake news”. The search for the causes of the fish kill in the Oder is still not complete.
“Chemical cocktail” as the cause
There are now several organic and inorganic substances that could be responsible, the spokesman said. “It really seems to be a chemical cocktail. According to our current knowledge, none of these substances alone caused the fish to die.” It could be a “multi-causal event”.
“No side and at no time in Germany claimed that the pesticides alone were the cause of the fish kills. It is regrettable that the Polish Ministry of the Environment now understood the corresponding laboratory results as an assignment of blame.”
German-Polish expert group
Poland’s Environment Minister Anna Moskwa wrote on Twitter on Saturday evening: “Warning, another fake news is being spread in Germany! Pesticides and herbicides. In Poland, the substance was tested and found to be below the limit of quantification, i.e. without any effects on fish or other animals, and without connection to fish kills.”
Today the German-Polish group of experts met for the first time. It is hoped that a “possible disagreement” will be cleared up when the laboratory results are presented and discussed there.
Poland: Too few barriers in Germany
Poland’s government meanwhile complained that German authorities had set up only a few oil barriers to catch the masses of dead fish in the Oder. “This really raises the question of why we have already been able to set up 29 oil booms on the Polish side to catch dead fish, while only three such barriers have been set up on the German side, despite our requests,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek the public broadcaster Polskie Radio.
The Polish fire brigade is also willing to borrow these barriers or set them up on the German side. Boom booms are deployed in the river to catch and recover dead fish before they drift further downstream.
Churches call for more environmental protection
In view of the massive fish kill, German and Polish churches called for more environmental protection. “As churches east and west of the Oder, we are united in the concern that all necessary efforts are made to preserve the natural environment,” says a statement published in Berlin and Breslau (Wroclaw), among other places.
The signatories include the Catholic Bishop of Berlin, Heiner Koch, the Bishop of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia, Christian Stäblein, Bishop Waldemar Pytel of the Evangelical-Augsburg Diocese of Breslau, the General Superintendent in the church district of Görlitz, Theresa Rinecker, and Bishop Tadeusz Litynski from the Diocese of Zielona Gora-Gorzow.
“We are turning to all people of good will to enable the restoration of flora and fauna in the Oder and in their natural environment with a common commitment,” emphasized the church representatives. “At the same time, we see the possibility and necessity of social and material support for the efforts for the Oder, the precious natural monument, and the infrastructure associated with it.” The Oder is “our common natural treasure, which we experience together on both banks.”