German, Polish activists fight to get the Oder River clean

German computer scientist Holger Seyfarth, also of Save the Oder, argues that the underlying causes of the 2022 disaster have not been addressed.

“Factories in Poland have been pumping saline discharge into the river for years, and farmers still use the river to dispose of their sewage,” he says.

Seyfarth is right to be worried. There is no legislation in Poland banning the discharge of saline waters or sewage into rivers, and Warsaw seems in no rush to change this.

One major omission on the part of the Polish government prior to the 2022 disaster was that it did not monitor and control the water quality in the Oder on a regular basis. Moreover, any monitoring results were not shared.

Pamiętam jak swego czasu było o tym bardzo głośno i Polski internet zalały zdjęcia oraz filmy pokazujące setki kilogramów śniętych ryb, które zbierali wolontariusze z poparzeniami na ciele. Rząd wtedy wziął wodę w usta i ostatecznie nic konkretnego prócz pustych obietnic z tego nie wynikło. Fajnie, że ktoś dalej zajmuje się tym tematem .