2022-08-17 11:36 update: 2022-08-23, 13:36
Photo PAP/Marcin Bielecki
The situation in Poland's River Odra has not spread to other species beyond fish, the climate and environment minister has told PAP.
About 100 tonnes of dead fish have been removed from Poland's second longest river since the issue first came to light in late July. The cause of the mass deaths is still being investigated.
"Apart from fish, no other species have been affected," Anna Moskwa said when asked about other animals that had had contact with the Odra's waters. "Individual mortalities have appeared but we do no connect them in any way with the situation, they are not en masse, they are individual cases, which are of course entirely unnecessary to announce as they are unrelated."
The minister said that the General Directorate of Environmental Protection was investigating the environmental damage to the Odra.
"Only fish have been directly affected, but of course we are also observing other species," Moskwa continued. "The General Directorate of Environmental Protection, in compiling a report assessing the effects on the environment and the scope of the damage, is analysing all species because that is their standard activity and they are capable of doing that professionally."
Access to the Odra has been restricted in three provinces and the prime minister has dismissed the director of Polish Waters and the chief environmental protection inspector over the affair. (PAP)
