The investigation into what led to the death of so many fish in the Oder river continues. A task force consisting of Germany and Poland is now being formed. A minister has been quoted as saying, "We're probing about in the dark."
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| [Oder river disaster] |
There is still no clear explanation as to what caused the massive fish death that occurred in the Oder. During a crisis conference attended by officials from the governments of Germany and Poland, a joint task force to explore the reasons was established. In the meanwhile, according to Axel Vogel, who serves as the Environment Minister for the state of Brandenburg and is a member of the Green Party, specialists are searching for 300 potential trigger compounds for what is occurring in labs.
After spending some time on the Oder and in the area surrounding Lebus on Monday, Vogel said, "We're probing about in the dark." The huge poisoning of fish is now being investigated at labs located in Poland and Germany, and one of the likely causes being looked into is the use of insecticides and other types of pesticides. The only thing that can be said with absolute certainty at this point is that the water in the Oder has a "anomaly" that cannot be explained.
According to Vogel, the salinity and pH levels of the Oder are so high that they are "toxic" in and of themselves. This is only one of the many elements that contribute to the river's overall toxicity. In addition to this, there is a large rise in the concentration of oxygen in the water, despite the fact that the reverse would be anticipated based on the high temperatures and low water levels. It is reasonable to believe that the measured values represent a response to the unidentified compounds that were responsible for the fish's demise.
On Monday, the BUND water expert Sascha Maier calculated that the number of fish that had perished in the Oder during the previous three days may be as high as one hundred tons. According to the specialist who worked for the environmental group that was interviewed by the German Press Agency, this is an extrapolation based on the reports on individual collecting efforts. On Monday, the spokesperson for the head of Poland's professional fire brigade said that since Friday, firefighters had retrieved around 80 tons of dead fish from the river.
Environmental disaster hits the Oder over a distance of 500 kilometers
According to Maier's explanation, the environmental catastrophe is felt throughout the Oder's whole length of around 500 kilometers. Earlier, the topic was covered in an article that was published in Riffreporter. According to the chief of the fire brigade in Slubice, who spoke to the PAP news agency on Monday, 10 tons of dead fish were discovered on Sunday on the Oder section in the Lubusz Voivodeship alone in the Lubusz Voivodeship.
Maier told the dpa that the scope of the tragedy is equivalent to that of the Sandoz accident in 1986. During that time, a fire broke out in a warehouse belonging to the chemical manufacturer Sandoz located in Switzerland (now Novartis). A significant volume of tainted firefighting water was discharged into the Rhine, which led to the death of a significant number of fish. The disaster at the time was the cause for worldwide worry and reporting intentions by riverbank inhabitants; however, according to Maier, none of these things have been fulfilled with on the Oder.
According to him, the BUND is operating on the hypothesis that the Polish side of the Oder was responsible for "an unlawful release of chemicals." We are able to make the assumption that there was a wave of pollutants that traveled through the Oder. There were apparently other variables, such as low water or construction on the enlargement of the Oder, which would have stressed out the fish and the ecology prior to the event.
Maier expressed his displeasure with the manner in which the extension work was being "managed extremely slowly" on the Polish side. The "core failure in Poland" existed even after the initial reports of fish that had died for unknown reasons. However, not everything on the German side of the reaction to the fish kill last week went as neatly as planned. According to Maier, there should have been an initial inclusion of a greater number of labs for analyses. "There has been much too much time wasted."
German Environment Minister Lemke meets her Polish counterpart Moskva
On Sunday evening in Szczecin, leaders from the governments of Poland and Germany got together at the highest level possible to discuss cooperative action. Additionally present were the Federal Environment Minister for Canada, Steffi Lemke (Greens), as well as her Polish colleague, Anna Moskwa. According to the Federal Environment Ministry, an agreement was reached to form a task force in which Polish and German specialists would now work jointly on researching the causes of the situation and developing responses to it.
More specific analysis findings are anticipated to become available "early in the week," as stated by the ministry. It was said on Monday in Berlin that the magnitude of the ecological harm that would occur in the river that borders Poland is "not yet anticipated."
On the German side of the border, the fish mortality was discovered around a week ago, which prompted the relevant authorities to take appropriate action. People were given an official warning to avoid drinking the water from the Oder. Additionally, locks were shut down, among other things, to ensure the safety of the waterways that are linked to the Oder.
In Poland, on the other hand, the fish kill wasn't discovered there until about a week and a half earlier, and the local authorities didn't take any preventative measures or issue any warnings at that time. The authorities didn't respond to the situation there until a week ago and just supplied preliminary information. Because of this, information policy decisions made by those responsible in Poland and Germany came under scrutiny.
It was originally reported that there were signs of poisoning and fish fatalities on July 28 in the area around the city of Wroclaw in Poland, according to the information that was gathered in the past. However, it is yet unknown who or what may be accountable for this matter. After then, the water made its way slowly towards the mouth of the Oder, which is located on the Baltic Sea.
Polish Prime Minister Woidke is 'angry' at his authorities
In the meanwhile, the actions of the Polish authorities continued to provoke a significant amount of unease. In an interview that aired on Monday on the ARD program "Morgenmagazin," Federal Environment Minister Lemke referred to a "loss of faith." In addition, the fact that information from Poland did not arrive in Germany in a timely manner made it difficult to "determine the source of the harm," as the minister said.
Dietmar Woidke, the Prime Minister of Brandenburg and a member of the Social Democratic Party, said on Monday in Lebus that he was "mad" about the Polish side. It would be necessary to process the occurrences in a "urgent" manner. However, it is "basically crucial" to figure out what caused the problem in the first place. It is only by this method that it will be possible to determine, among other things, whether or not the Oderwasser still poses a threat.
According to Vogel, the first hypotheses that mercury poisoning was the root cause were not borne out by the evidence. A extremely high quantity of mercury was found in one of the water samples taken during the last week, but not in any of the other samples. This is according to the State Minister for the Environment. In general, the amount of mercury that may be found in the Oder falls within or is just slightly more than the acceptable level.