To date, Polish firefighters have collected almost 100 tons of dead fish from the banks of the Oder River, which flows through Germany and Poland.
“Never before have we organized an operation of this magnitude on the river,” said Monika Nowakowska-Drida, spokeswoman for the fire service. A spokeswoman confirmed that from Friday to today, the dead fish reaches 100 tons.
The cause of the fish’s death is unclear, but authorities suspect it is due to chemical pollution in the river. “Probably a huge amount of chemical waste was dumped into the river, fully aware of the danger and consequences,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said last week.
Environment Minister Anna Moscow clarified today that no toxic substances have been found in any of the samples taken so far. The government, he added, is also considering various other possible causes, such as excessive concentrations of pollutants and salt due to low water levels in the river or high temperatures. Another possibility is the discharge of water with a high chlorine content by industrial plants.
Water samples are tested in Poland and Germany. Warsaw also sent samples to laboratories in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and the UK.
In recent years, the Oder has been considered a relatively clean river with about 40 species of fish. More than 500 firefighters are involved in the operation to clean up the river, Novakovskaya-Dryd said.
Mystery surrounds a massive fish death in Europe’s Oder River, which flows through Germany and Poland ⤵️
— in pictures https://t.co/nfPpQKMUpp pic.twitter.com/HwxKXK0mVs
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 16, 2022
Source: RES-IPE
Source: Kathimerini
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