In Germany and Poland, large quantities of dead fish have been found in the Oder River. According to the Polish Prime Minister, it will probably take years for the river to recover.
15:02•Updated 15:36
Masses of dead fish have been found in the Oder River in Central Europe.
Piles of dead fish have been found in Germany and Poland. Laboratory tests have revealed that the salt content of the water is high, but mercury, for example, has not been found, says the Polish Minister of Health Anna Moskva.
Tests have been taken from the water in both Germany and Poland. More accurate test results are still awaited, Moskwa said, according to news agency AP.
The cause of the fish’s death is not yet known. Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki said Friday that chemical waste may have been dumped in the water. On Saturday, Morawiecki vowed to do everything he could to limit environmental damage. According to Morawiecki, it will probably take years for the water body to recover.
Poland’s interior minister, on the other hand, said that a reward of one million zlotys, or about 214,000 euros, would be paid to anyone who helps track down those responsible for polluting the river.
Residents have been warned not to use water in Germany and Poland.
– The number of dead fish is shocking. This is a blow to the Oder as an ecologically valuable waterway from which it will probably not recover for a long time, said the environment minister of the German state of Brandenburg Alex Vogel.
Ten tons of dead fish collected from the river
Local residents and anglers made the first observations of mass fish deaths at the end of July.
German authorities have accused Polish authorities of failing to warn of fish deaths before they started washing up on the shores.
Poland’s national water management authority said on Thursday that ten tons of dead fish had been removed from the river.
According to Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki, in Poland it was believed that the problem was local.