In the Oder River, on the border of Germany and Poland, where a mass death of fish has been recorded, the salt content has increased dramatically, said Axel Vogel, Minister of Agriculture and Environment for the federal state of Brandenburg. This is “absolutely atypical,” Vogel, a member of the Soyuz-90/Greens party, said Friday evening, Aug. 12, on the air of public legal media firm RBB.

His department believes it’s the high salt content in the river’s water that could be associated with a phenomenon that environmentalists once called an environmental disaster. “However, according to the latest information, this is not the only factor that caused the death of fish in the Oder,” the Land Ministry said in a statement.

Serious mercury contamination of river water discovered

There is now increasing evidence of the presence of highly toxic substances in the water of the Oder. According to RBB, officials at the state laboratory responsible for testing the quality of the Oder’s water found high levels of mercury in the samples taken. According to the report, it remains unclear whether mercury actually caused the fish to die. However, it is claimed that the measured values ​​of the substance in the water were so high that the test result could not be displayed and the examination would have to be repeated.

Meanwhile, there is no official confirmation from Polish authorities that chemical waste has been dumped into the Oder. “Polish authorities make it clear that they themselves know very little and trust our information,” said Axel Vogel.

Two employees dismissed in Poland due to the situation on the Oder

Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has sacked two senior officials who, according to the prime minister, took too long to respond to the mass death of fish in the Oder. We are talking about the head of the state agency “Polish Waters” Przemysław Dace and the chief inspector of environmental protection Michal Mistshak. “The situation we faced was not predictable, but the reaction of the relevant services could certainly have been faster,” said Morawiecki.