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Dead fish swim in the Oder near Brieskow-Finkenheerd in Brandenburg
Photo: Frank Hammerschmidt / dpa
According to the Brandenburg Ministry of the Environment, the first indications of a highly toxic substance were found during the investigation of the fish kill in the Oder.
The Polish Environmental Protection Agency reported on Thursday that the trigger is probably industrial pollution.
The full extent of the massive fish kill along the river is still unclear.
The State Criminal Police Office (LKA) is now also investigating the fish kill.
Authorities evaluated samples.
According to the ministry in Potsdam, there should be further results on Friday.
Official warnings to avoid contact with the water from the Oder remained in place.
The Brandenburg Ministry of the Environment announced late Thursday afternoon that it was becoming apparent that an as yet unknown, highly toxic substance was flowing through the Oder.
The first analysis results consistently showed that a strong wave of organic substances went through Frankfurt an der Oder a few days ago and has since continued downstream, currently to Schwedt.
Effects on the ecosystem suggested synthetic chemicals, most likely also toxic to vertebrates.
Ten tons of dead fish
According to a report by Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) on Thursday, employees of the Berlin-Brandenburg state laboratory found high concentrations of mercury in water samples.
According to the report, it is not yet clear whether the mercury is the cause of the fish kills.
However, the measured values of the substance are said to have been so high that the test result could not be displayed and the test had to be repeated.
Deputy head of the Polish Environmental Protection Agency, Magda Gosk, said: "Everything indicates that the pollution of the Oder, which has led to the death of numerous fish, could have industrial origins." what the condition of the river is.
They are investigating what substance it is and "above all, who introduced this substance where into the Oder," Gosk said.
According to the Brandenburg authorities, there is still no overall overview of the number of dead fish in Poland and Germany.
The head of the Polish water authority, Przemyslaw Daca, said on Thursday that employees of his authority, anglers and volunteers had recovered a total of ten tons of dead fish.
"This shows that we are dealing with a gigantic and appalling environmental catastrophe."
The death of fish in the Oder, which is currently running at low water, has been worrying people in Brandenburg on the border with Poland for days.
The managing director of the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland, Antje von Brook, criticized: "This ecological catastrophe would not be of such magnitude if German and Polish authorities had worked together more intensively." A comprehensive political reappraisal is necessary.
The Brandenburg State Office for the Environment announced that it had not received any official notification from the Polish side.
Environment Minister Axel Vogel (Greens) criticized the lack of information from the Polish authorities and asked for clarification.
"It has to be said that the reporting chains between the Polish and German sides didn't work in this case," he said.
But even in Poland itself there are accusations that the population has not been warned not to eat fish from the Oder and not to bathe in the river.
Dead fish were found in Poland at the end of July and water samples were taken.
Birds and snakes are said to eat carrion
Meanwhile, the disposal of the carcasses on the banks of the Oder is to be prepared.
This was announced by the Märkisch-Oderland district on Thursday.
Birds and snakes feeding on carrion will be attracted, a spokesman said.
However, the population should not collect carcasses themselves, the disposal should be coordinated.
In Poland, the television station TVN24 showed pictures of volunteers collecting dead fish from the river on Thursday.
One of the helpers complained that after coming into contact with the water, he developed reddish skin irritation on his hands.
The helpers should get support from the Polish army in their work.
The authorities also want to prevent the contaminated water from spreading.
The environment department announced that the Alte Oder had been separated from the main Oder.
The water and shipping authority has also taken precautions for the Spree and the Hohensaaten-Friedrichsthal waterway.
kfr/dpa/AFP
