Raising fears of an environmental disaster, Polish firefighters have recovered 100 tonnes of dead fish from the Oder river since Friday. The reason behind the troubling incident is still unknown. “We’d never had an operation of this scope on a river before,” said Monika Nowakowska-Drynda from the national firefighter press office. Dams, boats, quad bikes and even a drone are involved in the massive operation to recover dead fish from the river that runs through Germany and Poland. Thousands of dead fish were found floating in the 520 mile river around July end by anglers and some locals.
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Environmental activists have raised concerns about the incident leading to a chain reaction that will affect the entire ecosystem. “We have to see how the bird population develops and what will happen to the racoons and otters. It is a catastrophe that will stay with us for years,” Karina Dörk, a district administrator of Germany’s Uckermark region, told the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
Even though the reason for the catastrophe is unclear, climate and environment minister Anna Moskwa has said that the tested samples haven’t shown the presence of any toxic substance. The samples have, however, shown elevated salt levels, which could have happened due to low water levels and high temperatures. The possibility of industrial waste water with a high chlorine content being poured into the river is also being explored.
Laboratories in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Britain are also testing the water samples to understand the cause. Poland has offered a reward of one million złoty (approx. $2,17,000) for information about those responsible for the situation.
The Polish government has been under fire for failing to take swift action after people started reporting the sightings. On Friday, the CEO of Polish Waters, the state-owned company in charge of water management, and the head of the environmental protection inspectorate were fired for failing to tackle the pollution in Oder river.
Meanwhile, German officials accused Polish authorities of not informing them about the dead fish on time.
(With inputs from agencies)
