Fish deaths: Ministry of the Environment complains about reporting chain failure

Created: 08/12/2022, 14:59

Dead fish in the Oder.

© Lech Muszynski/PAP/dpa

In connection with the massive fish kill in the Oder, the Federal Ministry for the Environment has complained that the reporting chain that is usual for such events has failed.

"In fact, we know that this reporting chain, which is intended for such cases, did not work," said a spokesman for the Ministry of the Environment on Friday in Berlin.

What is meant is the early reporting of fish deaths on the Polish side.

Berlin - The reporting chain did not work "until yesterday", i.e. until Thursday, the spokesman continued.

"Yesterday there was finally the message that should have come from the Polish side.

But by then the pollution on the German side was already known.”

A massive fish kill in the Oder has been worrying people in Brandenburg on the border with Poland for days.

Thousands of dead fish were discovered in the river, some of them near the city of Frankfurt (Oder) and surrounding towns.

According to the Polish water authority, ten tons of dead fish have been recovered.

The exact cause of the mass extinction is still unclear.

A combination of several factors such as heat, low water supply and toxins is possible, said Brandenburg Environment Minister Axel Vogel (Greens) on Friday.

Vogel had previously complained about the lack of information from the Polish authorities.

Dead fish were found in Poland at the end of July and water samples were taken for the first time.

The failure of the information chains is increasingly causing criticism on both sides.

The Federal Environment Ministry stated that it was currently in contact with the Polish government, the local Ministry of Infrastructure and the Polish Embassy "in order to actually bring clarity as quickly as possible," said the ministry spokesman.

The house of Steffi Lemke (Greens) is also in contact with the Brandenburg authorities, which are primarily responsible for the processing.

"We now need clarity about the substances that are actually in the water there." So far, the authorities have been faced with an "incomplete picture".

dpa