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Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke about two weeks ago in Frankfurt an der Oder: "The causes have not yet been finally clarified"
Photo: Patrick Pleul / dpa
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Die Grünen) expects long-term damage to the German-Polish border river Oder, which was affected by an environmental disaster.
It is not yet possible to say whether the Oder will fully recover, said the Green politician in an interview with the editorial network Germany (RND).
"In the Oder as an ecosystem, far greater damage was caused than the fish kill alone," says Lemke.
The first test results raised fears that there could be more serious damage.
"The causes have not yet been finally clarified," Lemke told RND.
Nevertheless, she would draw the conclusion that it was man-made water pollution - "probably in combination with the heat, which caused low water levels and high water temperatures," said the minister.
In view of the Oder disaster, one must check whether there are also approved discharges into water bodies elsewhere that will become more dangerous in the future due to rising temperatures, explained the environment minister.
“Chemical substances, salts and nutrients are permanently and legally discharged into many rivers.
Common sense suggests that this can be a bigger problem for a body of water when the water levels are low and temperatures are high than when the water temperature is low and the water is more dilute.”
In the SPIEGEL interview, the minister had warned shortly before that the climate and biodiversity crises should not be played off against each other.
»The climate cannot be saved without a healthy nature.
Nature conservation means so much more than protecting the individual bird,” says Lemke.
»We feel the consequences of the climate and biodiversity crisis on so many levels, especially in these days of drought.
We must protect nature better to protect ourselves«.
Masses of dead fish were discovered in the Oder about two weeks ago.
The exact cause of the fish kill is not yet clear.
Scientists see a major reason for the environmental catastrophe in the high salt content in the river, combined with low water, high temperatures and a toxic species of algae.
Environmentalists had warned of another fish kill.
swe/dpa
