Measured values from the Brandenburg State Environment Agency showed alarming values in the Oder at the beginning of August. However, the authority only took action days later. The reason is unclear.
Could the consequences of the Oder disaster have been mitigated by early intervention? At least measurements by the Brandenburg State Environment Agency indicated at the beginning of August that something was going on in the river. Finally, between August 6th and 7th, practically all parameters at the Frankfurt/Oder measuring station made a huge jump. As the “Spiegel” reports, the authority initially remained inactive.
Instead, the values were “continued to be observed,” the magazine quoted a spokesman for the authorities as saying. It was only when masses of dead fish were swimming in the Oder around three days later that the public was finally informed. It took another two days before formal bathing and fishing bans were issued. That was on August 12 – a good week after the alarming readings first surfaced. In the case of electrical conductivity, the curve was so deflected that the office’s diagram could no longer show it. According to experts, the higher conductivity indicates an unusual salt concentration in the water.
Or disaster: So far 36 tons of dead fish
The hesitant attitude of the Brandenburg authorities does not make the criticism directed at Polish authorities by Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) look good. “It is a fact that fish died in Poland six days before fish died here – and we were not informed,” says Woidke. Therefore he is “deeply disappointed” by the Polish government. Due to international treaties, Poland would have been obliged to provide information at an early stage. It is now apparent that the German authorities have also reacted hesitantly. The exact cause of the massive fish kill in the Oder is still unclear.
The Federal Ministry for the Environment has meanwhile estimated the number of dead Oder fish found in Germany to be around 36 tons. This was announced by the Ministry of Steffi Lemke (Greens) on Wednesday, citing information from helpers and districts in Brandenburg. Previously, there had been no official information on the size of the dead fish discovered so far on the German side. In Poland, for example, the fire brigade announced that it had recovered almost a hundred tons of dead fish from the Oder and a smaller river.
Sources: DPA, ,
Source: Stern
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