FILE - A dead chub and other dead fish are floating in the Oder River near Brieskow-Finkenheerd, eastern Germany, on Aug. 11, 2022. Germany’s government has accused Poland of failing to stop the dumping of pollutants that contributed to the deaths of hundreds of tons of fish in the Oder River in 2022. (Frank Hammerschmidt/dpa via AP, File)
FILE - A dead chub and other dead fish are floating in the Oder River near Brieskow-Finkenheerd, eastern Germany, on Aug. 11, 2022. Germany’s government has accused Poland of failing to stop the dumping of pollutants that contributed to the deaths of hundreds of tons of fish in the Oder River in 2022. (Frank Hammerschmidt/dpa via AP, File)
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's government accused Poland on Monday of failing to stop the dumping of pollutants that contributed to the deaths of hundreds of tons of fish in the Oder River, which runs along the border between the two countries.
The mass fish die-off last summer caused friction between Warsaw and Berlin, which both blamed on the Polish stretch of the river for promoting the growth of deadly golden algae. The environmental group Greenpeace said wastewater from Poland’s was most likely responsible.
“We see increasing signs that salts continue to be discharged (into the Oder),†German °µÍø½ûÇø Ministry spokesperson Christopher Stolzenberg said. “There has been no reaction by the Polish side to limit the salt discharge.â€
He said a similar die-off could happen again this summer but noted that water levels and high temperatures were .
“We need to see what's going to happen in the next weeks and months,†Stolzenberg told reporters in Berlin.
German officials have reached out to their Polish counterparts “at all levels†to raise awareness about the risk of another environmental catastrophe, he said.
“It can't be in anybody's interest to have a second such disaster,†Stolzenberg said. “At the moment, the signs aren't good, and in the end it's a question of time and also circumstances ... whether it could happen again.â€
Aleksander Brzozka, a spokesperson for Poland’s Climate and °µÍø½ûÇø Ministry, said in text message that the Polish government was in “constant touch with the German side and they exchange information on a current basis.â€
