Poland said laboratory tests to investigate large-scale fish kills in the Oder River showed high salinity levels but no mercury-contaminating mercury was detected.
According to media reports, analyzes of river samples taken in both Poland and Germany found high levels of salinity but no mercury, Poland’s climate and environment minister Anna Moskva said Saturday. Toxicology studies are still ongoing in Poland, she said.
Moskva said Polish veterinary authorities had tested seven species of dead fish and ruled out mercury as the cause of the deaths, but was awaiting results for other substances, the Associated Press reported. rice field. She said test results from Germany also showed no high presence of mercury.
Thousands of dead fish have been found along the Oder River between Poland and Germany, warning both countries of environmental damage.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki earlier this week called the fish deaths “very scandalous”. “Those responsible will be severely punished,” he said.
Morawiecki said late Friday that he fired the country’s head of the National Water Authority, Przemysław Dhaka, and the head of the General Environmental Inspectorate, Michal Miszuk, saying their agencies should have responded sooner, according to Reuters.
Polish Water said on Thursday that initial tests had found toxic substances in the river, and officials said Friday issued A warning not to bathe Oder. “We are most likely dealing with the crime that substances were introduced into the water that caused the death of fish and other organisms,” Deputy Climate and Environment Minister Jasek Ozdova said on Thursday.
German broadcaster RBB reported on Thursday that “high levels of mercury” were found in water samples from the Oder river.
Morawiecki on Saturday vowed to do everything possible to limit the damage to the environment. According to the Associated Press, Poland’s interior minister has offered a bounty to anyone who helps track down those responsible for the pollution in the river.
Earlier this week, Germany’s Brandenburg state environment ministry accused Poland of covering up the problem. Brandenburg Environment Minister Axel Vogel said: “In this case, I must say that the chain of reports between the Polish and German sides did not work.”
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