There are dead fish everywhere on the bank. The carcasses float on their stomachs on the surface of the water. There are devastating pictures and videos of the Oder circulating on the Internet. They document the massive fish deaths on the border river, which could also be dangerous for people – and is now a burden on the German-Polish neighborhood. Because east of the Oder, the problems had been known for a long time.
After the city of Frankfurt (Oder) first sounded the alarm on Wednesday, the Brandenburg districts of Oder-Spree, Märkisch-Oderland, Barnim and Uckermark also warned of a health risk from contact with the Oder water on Thursday. “Currently, a fish die-off can be observed throughout the Oder,” said the Oderland regional control center on Thursday morning via the Katwarn disaster control app.
As long as it is unclear which substances are involved and in what concentration they occur in the Oder and in the tributaries, bathing in the Oder is not allowed. In addition, citizens should not take water from the border river and its tributaries, fish, eat fish from the water or allow animals to drink from it.
The death of fish in the Oder had worried anglers and authorities in Brandenburg on the border with Poland in the past few days. The State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in Brandenburg is also investigating the death of fish in the border river. A water sample was taken, which the State Criminal Police Office evaluates, said a spokeswoman for the police headquarters in Potsdam on Thursday. It is unclear when a result will be available.
The State Office for the Environment reported that samples from the automatic measuring station in Frankfurt/Oder were brought to the Berlin-Brandenburg State Laboratory for analysis on Tuesday. The facility was informed of the urgency of the evaluation, it said.
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The first analysis results on Thursday consistently showed that a strong wave of organic substances passed through Frankfurt an der Oder and has since continued downstream, currently to Schwedt. Effects on the ecosystem suggested synthetic chemicals, also very likely to be toxic to vertebrates. According to the ministry, the first results of the organic trace substance analysis are expected on Friday.
In the evening reported the RBB, Employees of the state laboratory found high levels of mercury in the water samples. The values are so high that the test result cannot be displayed and the test has to be repeated. Whether the mercury detected in the samples from the Oder is the cause of the massive fish kill has still not been clarified, according to the RBB.
The German authorities were not warned by the Polish side
The fact that the investigation is taking so long – and that Brandenburg’s population was only warned of a possible danger late – is apparently due to the lack of reports from the Polish authorities. According to reports in the Polish media, anglers in Poland had already found dead fish on the bank at the end of July. According to the authorities, thousands have now been found, first in Lower Silesia, but now also in the Lubuskie Voivodeship, further north.
According to the reports, inspectors from the water authority in Lower Silesia had already taken water samples from three places at the end of July. At the beginning of August, the water authority in Wroclaw (Breslau) announced that the high oxygen content in the water deviated from the typical oxygen concentrations in summer. It is possible that a substance with strong oxidizing properties got into the water. In addition, the toxic substance mesitylene was detected in two places.
If such a case occurs, the OR alarm plan takes effect. The Polish side is then obliged to inform the German authorities. However, according to the Brandenburg State Office for the Environment, this did not happen. No report from Poland was received until Wednesday at the earliest, said a spokesman when asked by the Tagesspiegel. By this time the fish had long been floating dead in the water on the German side as well.
Frankfurt’s mayor sees “state failure”
The responsibilities “obviously failed,” said Frankfurt’s mayor René Wilke (left). Not only were there no reports from Poland. The federal government, as the owner of the federal waterway, and the state of Brandenburg “did not manage to address the problems that had arisen within a reasonable period of time”.
Wilke also means the thousands of dead fish that the city and the Märkisch-Oderland district are now eliminating themselves. After that, I will clearly ask for answers. “In my view, this is a state failure that cannot remain without consequences,” said Wilke.
Brandenburg’s Environment Minister is critical
Brandenburg’s Environment Minister Axel Vogel (Greens) criticized the responsible authorities in Poland. One has contact with the Polish side, said Vogel on Thursday Radioeins from RBB. However, no official information has yet been given about the events in Opole, which apparently took place on July 27 or 28.
It was only known “from third parties and the media that solvents were released on a larger scale, which may be partly responsible for the fish kills,” said the minister. “It can be seen that the agreed reporting channels were not followed and we therefore do not have a lot of information that we should have.” In any case, it is a strange phenomenon that the oxygen content in the Oder in the past few days despite the high Temperatures have risen noticeably, said Vogel.
The Polish environmental authority assumes that industry is responsible
On Thursday, Poland’s Environmental Protection Agency said the fish kill was likely caused by industrial water pollution. “Everything indicates that the pollution of the Oder, which has led to the death of numerous fish, could be of industrial origin,” said the agency’s deputy head Magda Gosk.
The Environment Agency is trying to use drone overflights to track down potential sources of pollution and determine the condition of the river. They are investigating what substance it is and “above all, who introduced this substance where into the Oder,” Gosk said.
Fishing association expects “several tons of dead fish”
Criticism also comes from Lars Dettmann, state manager of the Brandenburg/Berlin fishing association. “It’s a big mess that people in Poland noticed that at the end of July and didn’t say anything,” he said. People and authorities in Germany have therefore been “completely clueless” for too long. The amount of dead animals along the river is enormous. “I assume that we easily have several tons of dead fish.”
However, it is difficult to estimate the exact extent of the damage. “The Oder is a river. The mass of dead fish will float down with her.”
At the same time, the fishermen hope: Like the carcasses, a possible poison could also leave the river with the current. “Experience shows that these are relatively short-term phenomena, especially in rivers,” said Dettmann. This is catastrophic in the short term, but often less serious in the long term.
In Poland, the water values have returned to normal
Reports from Poland also speak for this. According to the water authority in Wroclaw, more recent water samples from the Oder in Lower Silesia are unpolluted. The toxic substance mesitylene has not been detected in samples since August 1, the authority said on Thursday. The physical and chemical condition of the water will continue to be examined daily.
In addition, the fish would also flee from the spreading poison, explained association manager Dettmann. They then swam into unpolluted tributaries. One advantage is that the Oder has no weirs.
A report from Brieskow-Finkenheerd, south of Frankfurt (Oder), showed the fisherman that the worst could not happen. There, a fellow fisherman has already discovered young fry again between the dead animals.
Nevertheless, Dettmann hopes that the Polish authorities will clarify the incident quickly. “I would like to have an address to which I can send the claim for damages. Because what floats dead there was the future yield of fishermen.” (with dpa)