What Killed Tons Of Fish In European River? Mystery Deepens
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What killed tons of fish in European river? Mystery deepens:
Laboratory tests following a mass die-off of fish in the Oder River detected high levels of salinity but no mercury poisoning its waters, Poland's environment minister said Saturday as the mystery continued as to what killed tons of fish in Central Europe.
Anna Moskwa, the minister of climate and environment, said analyses of river samples taken in both Poland and Germany revealed elevated salt levels. Comprehensive toxicology studies are still underway in Poland, she said.
[...] The Oder River runs from Czechia to the border between Poland and Germany before flowing into the Baltic Sea. Some German media had suggested that the river have been be poisoned with mercury.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Friday that "huge amounts of chemical waste" were probably dumped intentionally into his country's second-longest river, causing environmental damage so severe it would take years for the waterway to recover.
[...] "The extent of the fish die-off is shocking. This is a blow to the Oder as a waterway of great ecological value, from which it will presumably not recover for a long time," said Alex Vogel, the environment minister for Germany's Brandenburg state, along which the river runs.
The head of Polish waters, Poland's national water management authority, said Thursday that 10 tons of dead fish had been removed from the river. Hundreds of volunteers were working to help collect dead fish along the German side.
German laboratories said they detected "atypical" levels of "salts" that could be linked to the die-off but wouldn't fully explain them on their own.
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