EAccording to the Polish government, increased mercury levels are not the cause of the fish deaths in the Oder. This was the result of the first toxicological test results from samples of dead fish, wrote Poland Environment Minister Anna Moskva on Twitter on Saturday. “The State Veterinary Institute tested seven species. It has ruled out mercury as the cause of fish deaths.” They are now waiting for the results of tests for other pollutants. According to government information, Polish authorities had already received the first indications at the end of July that masses of dead fish were floating in the river.
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) admitted mistakes in the cooperation with Poland on Saturday evening in Frankfurt (Oder). The Green politician is now aiming for better coordination. “The question of German-Polish cooperation obviously didn’t work at this point (…), otherwise we would have received information earlier, at least from the state of Brandenburg or the neighboring municipalities,” said Lemke. There, helpers had collected many dead fish from the shore.
“In fact, we know that this reporting chain, which is intended for such cases, did not work,” a spokesman for the Ministry of the Environment had previously said. Brandenburg had also openly criticized that it had not been informed by the Polish authorities.
Lemke said during her visit that she and her Polish counterpart Anna Moskwa had already agreed in a first meeting on Friday that there should be a joint expert assessment of the situation and an exchange of the analysis results. According to ZDF, the Federal Environment Minister will meet Moskva on Sunday evening.
The cause of the fish kill is still unclear. According to the Brandenburg Environment Minister Axel Vogel (Greens), the Oder has “very much increased salt loads”. Poland’s government suspects that the river was poisoned with chemical waste. The Polish police have offered a reward of the equivalent of 210,000 euros for the investigation.
Water samples in preparation
The environmental catastrophe is meanwhile spreading further and further. The Ministry of the Environment Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania expects the effects of the fish kill in the Oder on the Szczecin Lagoon. It is to be expected that the loads will already reach the mouth of the Oder near Szczecin (Poland) in the evening, depending on wind and current conditions, the ministry wrote in a statement late on Friday evening. In the course of Saturday, the Western Pomeranian part of the Szczecin Lagoon could also be affected.
The ministry by Till Backhaus (SPD) therefore called on the residents as a precaution to refrain from fishing in and taking water from the body of water – regardless of use. The responsible authorities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are currently preparing water and fish samples.
The investigations into the clarification of the fish kill are ongoing. Previous laboratory analyzes did not bring any precise information about the pollution of the water and the causes. Environmental politicians and conservationists rated the fish kill as an environmental disaster.