SCHWEDT / POTSDAM (dpa-AFX) – The death of thousands of fish in the Oder is a mystery. Brandenburg Environment Minister Axel Vogel (Greens) confirmed that mercury pollution had been found in the Oder – “but we cannot say at the moment that mercury is responsible for the death of the fish,” he said on Friday in Schwedt. “We don’t know at the moment what they really died of.”
A combination of several factors such as heat, low water supply and toxins is possible, said Vogel. “It may well be that these are substances that have been introduced into the Oder for a long time, but normally do not pose a problem at all with medium water.” However, there are currently historical low water levels on the Oder.
Such small amounts of water meant that every substance in the water was present in a higher concentration, Vogel said. Therefore, it could well be that substances that are normally not so serious in the dosage are now dangerous due to the increased dose. It has now been clarified that fish are also dying in Germany and that it is not just dead animals that have washed up from Poland, said the Environment Minister.
Conservationists assume far-reaching consequences for the Lower Oder Valley National Park. “The effects are just terrible,” said deputy national park manager Michael Tautenhahn on Friday morning to the German Press Agency. “This is simply a disaster for the national park.” The poisoning wave went completely through the Oder. Dead fish were seen floating across the entire width of the river. Zander, catfish, gudgeons and loach are affected. Sea eagles and other birds could ingest poison from the dead fish. The Lower Oder Valley National Park is one of the most species-rich habitats in Germany.
According to the Polish Environmental Protection Agency, the fish kill was likely caused by industrial water pollution. Poland will be able to present the test results of masses of dead fish from the Oder on Sunday at the earliest. So far, the State Research Institute in Pulawy has not received any fish, director Krzysztof Niemczuk told the PAP news agency on Friday.
The fish are to be examined for metals, pesticides and other toxic substances. “There are so many substances that could have caused the fish kills that we can’t say at this point what could be the cause,” Niemczuk said.
The death of fish in the Oder has been worrying people in Brandenburg on the border with Poland for days. Thousands of dead fish were discovered in the river, some of them near the city of Frankfurt (Oder) and surrounding towns. According to the Polish water authority, ten tons of dead fish have been recovered.
The District Administrator for the Uckermark district, Karina Dörk, said that the area along the Oder will be flown over with drones to see how the fish kill is developing. An operation to collect the dead fish is planned on the German side for this Saturday.
There has been increasing criticism of the Polish authorities. Dead fish were found in Poland at the end of July and water samples were taken for the first time. Brandenburg’s Environment Minister Vogel had criticized the lack of information on Thursday.
The Greens parliamentary group leader in the Brandenburg state parliament, Benjamin Raschke, added on Friday: “I’m shocked. Not only by the thousands of deaths of the fish, but also by the failure of the information chain from Poland,” he said. If simple reporting chains do not work in the event of an ecological catastrophe, there is a fundamental need for discussion.
The Greens spokeswoman in Frankfurt (Oder), Alena Karaschinski, said the frustration was deep about the breach of trust in the room. “A multiple failure of information obligations and possibly even an attempt to cover up in the event of an environmental disaster. That will have to be dealt with at federal level between Germany and Poland.”/dhe/DP/stw