by Marek Strzelecki
WARSAW (Reuters) – The Polish government has pledged to investigate possible contamination after tonnes of dead fish were retrieved from the Oder River, which flows along part of Poland’s border with Germany.
Firefighters and volunteers removed about five tonnes of dead fish from the Oder River in the southwestern Polish town of Olawa, officials from State Water Holding, which manages national waters, said on Wednesday.
Polish government officials are due to visit Olawa on Thursday while Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has promised to prosecute those responsible.
Dead fish are now found some 300 kilometers north of Olawa, where the Oder flows along the German border, Ewa Drewniak, a biologist for the Civic Coalition group, told Reuters on Thursday, accusing the government of not react fairly quickly.
“Dead fish have been floating in the Oder for two weeks and people haven’t been told about it, I saw dozens of people bathing in the river a week and a half ago, they weren’t aware danger, it’s outrageous,” she said.
According to regional environmental protection authorities in Wroclaw, water samples from the Oder taken on July 28 had an 80% chance of containing the toxic substance mesitylene, although it was not present in the water. samples taken after August 1st.
Low water levels due to drought in Europe may have increased contamination risks, Przemyslaw Daca, director of the State Water Holding, said on Wednesday, who suspects a strong oxidizing agent has entered the water, causing a sharp increase in oxygen levels that can harm fish.
Several German districts bordering Poland have asked residents to avoid river water and not eat fish from the Oder until the reason is clear.
(With contributions by Maria Sheahan; French version Dina Kartit, editing by Kate Entringer)
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