The flood threat is passing, the long peak wave on the Odra River is heading to the Baltic Sea, but it carries so much pollution that if it does not flood, it may cause poisoning.
The climax wave is cloudy, brown water, and it contains everything that it encounters on its way. – We can expect an ecological catastrophe – warns Professor Arkadiusz Nędzarek from the Department of Bioengineering of the Water Environment and Aquaculture at the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin.
The first immediate effect is the ban on fishing in the West Pomeranian section of the Oder. – Out of concern for people's health, such a ban was introduced to avoid any cases of poisoning and this type of stories – informs Gabriela Wiatr from the Marshal's Office of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Danger to people and the environment
Currently, the water that flooded cities and flows towards the Baltic Sea is most likely to harm people.
– Contact with water should be avoided, even to the extent that you should not use things that have been flooded – points out Piotr Nieznański from WFF Polska and the Let's Save the Rivers Coalition.
Dirty water is also a threat to the environment. You can find almost everything in the water, from trees and plants, through rotting food, dead animals, household appliances, tons of plastic waste, chemicals, fuels, oils, feces – so the entire Mendeleev table is in these rivers.
– Water is a substance that dissolves everything it comes into contact with, so we can expect high concentrations of heavy metals or organic compounds, for example petroleum derivatives – says Prof. Arkadiusz Nędzarek.
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The good news is that there is plenty of water
Because there is a lot of water, pollutants are more diluted and move around – which is good news. The problem will be much bigger when the flood wave is followed by drought again.
– Most of it will flow into the Baltic Sea, but some will stop and the situation with golden algae may be worse – notes Dorota Chmielowiec-Tyszko from the EcoDevelopment Foundation and the Let's Save the Rivers Coalition.
– Especially those agricultural lands that were flooded should be examined in detail. Test water intakes on an ongoing basis – comments Krzysztof Smolnicki from the EcoDevelopment Foundation and the Let's Save the Rivers Coalition.
The Ministry of Climate and Environment argues that the services constantly monitor the quality of water in rivers and groundwater. – These are reports that we receive on the phone literally every hour, and the current status is that there are no situations where there would be any consequences related to flooding – says Paweł Marciniak from the Ministry of Climate and Environment.
The issue of tons of garbage that flows into the Baltic Sea together with the water is completely different. There are no plans to catch them at this time.
– Flooding is such an extreme phenomenon, but let us note that pollution from the Oder and Vistula flows constantly into the Baltic Sea, and here I am not only talking about municipal sewage, but also sewage from industry and heavy metal pollution – points out Piotr Nieznański.
Unfortunately, on a daily basis, Poland is still the country that pollutes the Baltic Sea the most.
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