The mass death of fish in the Oder has been worrying people who live on the river in Poland and Germany for days. The Ministry of the Environment in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is now expecting effects on the Baltic Sea and the Szczecin Lagoon. It is to be expected that the loads, depending on the wind and current conditions, will reach the mouth of the Oder near the Polish city of Szczecin in the evening, the ministry wrote in a statement. In the course of Saturday, the Western Pomeranian part of the Szczecin Lagoon could also be affected.
As a precaution, the Ministry of Till Backhaus (SPD) called on residents to refrain from fishing and any water withdrawal. The responsible authorities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are currently preparing water and fish samples. What could have led to the disaster is not yet clear. Previous laboratory analyzes did not bring any precise information about the pollution of the water.
Since the cause of the pollution is suspected in Poland, accusations have already been made in Germany that the neighboring country did not release information in good time and did not follow the usual reporting chain for such events. The Polish government and authorities are therefore under pressure. At the end of July they received the first indications that there were masses of dead fish floating in the river.
Meanwhile, Poland has offered a hefty reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators. The police have offered a sum of the equivalent of 210,000 euros, said Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wasik. “We want to find the culprits and punish the perpetrators of the environmental crime that is probably at stake here,” emphasized Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. On Friday evening, Morawiecki had already fired the head of the water authority and the head of the environmental authority.
Conservationists rated the fish kill as an environmental disaster
Meanwhile, the investigations are ongoing. Environmental politicians and conservationists in Germany rated the fish kill as an environmental disaster. Previous laboratory analyzes did not bring any precise information about the pollution of the water and the causes. According to the Brandenburg Minister of the Environment, Axel Vogel, the Oder has “very much increased salt loads”. That was “absolutely atypical,” said the Green politician on Friday evening on RBB television. Vogel’s ministry said the measured salt loads could be related to the fish kill. “According to current knowledge, however, it will not be a single factor that caused the fish deaths in the Oder,” it said in a statement.
The term salt loads refers to salts dissolved in the water. The ministry explained that these are the first further results from the Berlin-Brandenburg state laboratory on the daily samples that were taken at the automatic measuring station in Frankfurt (Oder) by Friday. The results are “not yet fully meaningful and not conclusive”. Further investigation data “in particular on heavy metals, mercury (in other samples) and other elements” are still being clarified in the laboratory and should be available in the coming week.
“Today’s data point to multi-causal relationships, which include the current very low discharge rates and high water temperatures.” With a view to possibly increased mercury levels, Vogel said that this would be checked further. It could be a local phenomenon. When asked whether groundwater or drinking water could be contaminated, the minister replied: “We hope not.” In any case, it was “a deadly cargo” that was transported in the river.
Meanwhile, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) exchanged views with her Polish counterpart. Lemke wrote on Twitter: “The priority is now to limit damage, protect the population and identify the cause and the potential perpetrator(s).” In Brandenburg, the banks should be cleaned and carcasses collected at the weekend.