River Oder: Speculation about ‘environmental disaster’ in Germany and Poland

There is growing speculation about the cause of an “environmental disaster” in Germany and Poland, following a massive fish kill in the Oder River.

Thousands of lifeless fish began to wash up on the banks of the Oder River, which ran along the border of Germany and Poland in late July.

Since then, officials have tried to determine the cause of the mass die-off, which they say will take years to recover as the river has been so badly damaged.

Laboratory tests to the source of the disaster have found no mercury, Poland’s environment minister said on Saturday.

Authorities say the fish may have been poisoned.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday that “huge amounts of chemical waste” were likely dumped into his country’s second longest river.

He pledged to do everything possible to limit environmental destruction, with Poland’s interior minister later offering a reward of 1 million zloty ($200,000) to anyone with information about who was responsible for polluting the river.

Anna Moskwa, the climate and environment minister, said analyzes of river samples taken in both Poland and Germany revealed elevated salt levels.

Extensive toxicology studies are still underway in Poland, she said.

Moskwa wrote on Twitter that test results sent from Germany had so far not shown a high presence of mercury.

The death of the fish is “atypical,” said Axel Vogel, the environment minister of the German state of Brandenburg, who estimates that “tons” of fish have probably already died.

“The magnitude of the fish kill is shocking. This is a blow to the Oder as a waterway of great ecological value, from which it is unlikely to recover for a long time,’ he says.

The death of fish is often caused by the disturbance of the oxygen content when the water level is too low. This is the case in Germany and Poland, amid the historic drought gripping Europe.

“But we’ve been noticing an increase in oxygen levels for several days, indicating that a foreign substance has entered and caused all of this,” Vogel said.

Michel Tautenhahn, deputy head of Germany’s Odertal National Park, said more than just fish were caught in the disaster.

“I am deeply shocked,” he told reporters. “I feel like decades of work are being ruined… Water is our life.”

Tautenhahn said a host of other sea creatures, such as mussels, had also succumbed.

“Fish are just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

The Oder has been considered a relatively clean river for years, home to about 40 species of fish.

In Poland, authorities have been accused of a slow response after reports of huge numbers of dead fish washed ashore surfaced.

Two Polish officials were fired for what the country’s prime minister described as indolence in their response.

“If I come to the conclusion that there has been a serious breach of duty, further consequences will be drawn,” he said.

“For me, however, the most important thing is to tackle this ecological disaster as quickly as possible, because nature is our common heritage. It’s a national good,” Morawiecki said.