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Search for clues on the Oder.
The acute wave of yet unknown pollutants seems to be over - nevertheless, the effects of the massive fish kill will occupy the region for a long time.
Hannes Schrader, DER SPIEGEL
“I'm standing on the banks of the Oder, in Frankfurt an der Oder. Here in the middle runs the border between Germany and Poland. And for the layman like me, this looks relatively normal again. Over the past few days, helpers have pulled 40 tons of dead fish out of the water here. Over a length of 4.5 kilometers.«
The Polish government has issued a reward of one million zloty, the equivalent of around 213,000 euros, for information on the cause.
Although mercury and other heavy metals can be ruled out after initial tests, 300 other possible substances are currently being tested.
The ecosystem could have been damaged for years to come.
Hannes Schrader, DER SPIEGEL
»I was here with conservationists and conservationists. And what else you can see here, apart from a few isolated fish carcasses on the bank and also in the water, are dead mussels and snails, muscle meat, which indicate that large parts of the ecological system that lived in this river have been destroyed here. What's left are a few small fish. That is why there is actually still hope that some things will survive here and also multiply again. But I was also told that there could still be carcasses on the bottom, such as catfish that live on the bottom and probably died in this catastrophe, the cause of which is still not known.«
Criticism of the Polish authorities comes from Germany: They had already had the first indications at the end of July that there were masses of dead fish floating in the river.
However, those responsible in Germany were not informed until much later.
The processing of the incident has just begun.
Steffi Lemke, Federal Environment Minister
»Exactly these points, why the reporting chain that theoretically exists via the International Commission for the Protection of the Oder, why this reporting chain did not exist, which the Polish government president himself criticized, and I am also grateful for this openness, in such a Situation, that's exactly what the relevant working group of the International Commission for the Protection of the Oder will deal with on August 18, because we also agree that something like this shouldn't be allowed to happen again."
