A political conflict has broken out between Poland and Germany over research into the causes of fish kills in the Oder. The German government has rejected Polish accusations of spreading “fake news” related to the fish kills. “We regret that the Polish side has come to this assessment,” a spokesman for the Environment Ministry said in Berlin on Monday. Meanwhile, more criticism came from Warsaw.
The spokesman for the German Environment Ministry says the search for the causes of the fish deaths in the Oder is still not complete. There are now several organic and inorganic substances that may be responsible for this. “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”.
Poland: limit values respected
Polish Environment Minister Anna Moskwa wrote on Twitter on Saturday evening: “Warning, more fake news is being spread in Germany!!! pesticides and herbicides. In Poland, the substance was tested and found below the limit of quantification, ie with no effects on fish or other animals and unrelated to fish mortality.”
Pesticides are not alone to blame
“No side and at no time in Germany claimed that the pesticides alone were the cause of the fish kill. It is regrettable that the Polish Ministry of the Environment now understood the associated laboratory results as a way to blame,” said the German Ministry of Environment.
This Monday, the German-Polish group of experts met for the first time. It is hoped that a “possible disagreement” will be clarified when the lab results are presented and discussed there.
Too few oil trees used?
Meanwhile, the Polish government has complained that German authorities have installed only a few oil booms to catch the masses of fish that have died in the Oder. “This really begs the question of why we have already been able to build 29 oil barriers in which fish are caught on the Polish side, while only three such barriers have been erected on the German side, despite our requests,” said Deputy Foreign Minister. Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek has the public broadcaster Polskie Radio on Monday.
The Polish fire brigade is also prepared to borrow these barriers or to set them up on the German side. Boom booms are deployed in the river to catch and store dead fish before drifting further downstream.
Giant fish kills
On August 9, the massive fish kill in the Oder was announced on the German side. In Poland, on the other hand, there were the first indications of fish carcasses in the border river at the end of July. The German authorities accuse the Polish side of informing them too late, making it difficult to determine the cause.
Szynkowski vel Sek emphasized that since August 11 there has been coordination of activities and exchange of information. Authorities on both the Polish and German sides likely initially regarded fish mortality as a local problem — until it turned out to be much bigger, the Polish Deputy Foreign Minister continued.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
