After the massive fish kill in the Oder on the German-Polish border, the Polish government has now offered a high reward. Police have offered the equivalent of €210,000 for information leading to the arrest of a perpetrator, Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wasik said in Gorzow Wielkopolski on Saturday. It is believed that a huge amount of chemical waste has been dumped into the river.
“We want to find the culprits and punish the perpetrators of the environmental crime that is likely to be at stake here,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki emphasized. The Polish government and authorities are under pressure for being too hesitant to warn about the fish kill. Politicians and conservationists described the effects of the Oder pollution as an environmental disaster. The cause has not yet been elucidated. Laboratory analyzes of samples of the water and dead fish are underway.
Political head roles
Dealing with fish mortality has meanwhile had consequences for personnel in Poland. Prime Minister Morawiecki fired the head of the water board and the head of the environmental authority because they had reacted too slowly to the fish deaths in the Oder. Also in Germany, the federal and state governments openly criticized Poland for not providing information in a timely manner and for failing to follow the usual chain of reporting for such events.
He does not rule out further personnel consequences, the Polish head of government said. He admitted that he only learned of the massive fish kill on August 10. “In any case, I was informed too late.” According to the government, the Polish authorities had already received the first indications at the end of July that masses of dead fish were floating in the river.
Dangerous Cleanups
However, in the border area of Oder in the German state of Brandenburg, hundreds of helpers started collecting dead animals on Saturday. In the town of Lebus, not far from Frankfurt (Oder), an unpleasant odor had spread on the riverbank due to the decomposition of the fish, a dpa reporter described. Birds can also be seen carrying dead fish. Task forces in Lebus wore rubber boots and gloves, among other things. You must protect yourself from contact with the water and fish.
“I expect a few tons of fish to be taken out,” says Thomas Rubin from the district administration of Märkisch-Oderland. There are about 300 helpers on the way, mainly on the coast, over a distance of about 80 kilometers. The mayor of the city of Schwedt an der Oder, Annekathrin Hoppe, said on rbb inforadio on Saturday that the helpers were equipped with protective suits during the collection. It can be assumed that there are substances that are hazardous to human health.
Increased salt content
According to information from the Brandenburg Minister of the Environment Axel Vogel, the Oder has “a greatly increased salt load”. That was “absolutely atypical”, said the Green politician on RBB television on Friday evening. The Vogel’s Department said the salt loads measured may be related to fish kills. “However, according to current knowledge, it will not be any factor that caused the fish kill in the Oder,” it said in a statement. The term salt load refers to salts dissolved in the water.
However, the results are “not yet fully meaningful and inconclusive,” it said. Further research data should be available in the coming week. With regard to mercury finds, Vogel said this would be monitored further.
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.
