Ecological disaster: thousands of dead fish in the river between Poland and Germany

thousands Fish swim inertly in Odercausing fear of an ecological “catastrophe” on this river, flowing between Germany D Poland, whose authorities have asked the population to stay away from its waters.

Banks Fish furrowed the belly near the city of Schwedt, in the east Germanywere probably swept away by the current Polandwhere neighbors and fishermen identified the first cases on 28 July.

German officials, surprised by the mass arrival of these animals, chided the Polish authorities for not warning.

And in PolandThe right-wing populist government is also being criticized for not taking action sooner.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki tried to justify himself: “In the beginning, everyone thought it was just a local problem,” he said on his weekly podcast.

“The scale of pollution is very large, large enough to say that Oder it will take years to return to its natural state,” he admitted.

“A huge amount of chemical waste was probably dumped into the river with full knowledge of the risk and its consequences,” he said.

German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke demanded a thorough investigation into the causes of this “environmental catastrophe”.

“Deeply Shocked”

Standing on the bank of the river riverMichelle Toutenhahn, Deputy Head of Lower Valley National Park Oderlooks anxiously towards the watercourse marking the German-Polish border.

“We are on the side of Germany. We have dead fish everywhere,” he says.

“I am deeply shocked. I have the impression that decades of work have been destroyed (…) Water is our life,” he laments.

they not only died Fishas well as many other aquatic animals such as mussels. Fish “This is just the visible part of the iceberg,” he says.

Oder This is a river that has been considered relatively clean for many years and is home to forty species. Fish.

Many now swim lifelessly in its waters, some only a few centimeters, others almost two arms long. Occasionally, an instance can be seen attempting to turn around to attempt to swim.

“unusual” death

According to authorities, the animals were probably poisoned.

His death is “unusual”, explains Axel Vogel, Minister for the Environment of the German state of Brandenburg, assuring that “tons” Fish they have already passed away.

death Fish this is often caused by distorted oxygen levels when the water level is too low, he explains.

“But we found an increase in oxygen levels over several days, which indicates that an external substance was introduced that caused all this,” he says.

In Germany, analyzes are being carried out to determine the nature of this substance. Authorities have already reported signs of extremely high levels of mercury, which will need to be confirmed by an investigation.

AT Polandoutrage grows and this episode of infection is transferred to the prosecutor’s office.

The opposition, local authorities and environmental organizations demanded an explanation from the government, and some even called for the resignation of the climate ministry, one of whose deputies continued to urge the population to swim in Oder.

“It’s like Chernobyl when, after the disaster, the Soviet authorities sent people to participate in the May 1 parade,” environmental activist Daniil Petrikevich told TVN24.

On the German bank of the river Tautenhahn worries about the future.

“If it’s mercury, it’s going to stay there for a long time,” he says, pointing out that the metal doesn’t break down and can stay in sediment for years. (AFP)

Omar Castro, CPI’s general manager, said the public does not believe in the supposed economic gains that the president takes credit for.