EC: Poland has taken insufficient measures to restore Oder River after massive fish deaths

Poland has failed to restore the ecosystem of the Oder River following a major environmental disaster in the extremely hot summer of 2022. Within the space of a few weeks, hundreds of thousands of fish died in the central European waterway due to a toxic algal bloom, which is believed to have been caused in part due to discharges of industrial wastewater with a high salt content from mines. It was one of the largest ecological calamities in recent European river history, with the damage spreading for hundreds of kilometres.

The Prymnesium parvum algae, which is adapted to higher salinities, bloomed to such an extent in the heatwave conditions that aquatic life, including more than 360 tonnes of fish, along a 500-kilometre stretch of the river, was killed. The elevated discharges of polluting salts in the Oder catchment were key to providing conditions for the disaster to happen a 2023 report from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) stated. Salt discharges have been a longstanding issue from mines and other sources in the Oder catchment. Low water levels due to a severe hydrological drought, reduced flow and high nutrient concentrations from agricultural activities were also factors in the environmental event. Modifications to the hydromorphology also played a role.”

Failure to take adequate measures

The European Commission, in its April infringements package, said it had sent a letter of formal notice to Poland for failing to fulfil its obligations under the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the Industrial Emissions Directive, and the Habitats and Birds Directives. The letter said that ‘Poland also failed to take the necessary measures to ensure restoration of the protected habitats and species present along the river, such as bitterling or spined loach’. Finally, Poland adopted a River Basin Management Plan without taking into account the disaster of summer 2022 and its impacts. In doing so, Poland also failed to fulfil the requirements to carry out an appropriate assessment of the plan’s impact on Natura 2000 sites that would be based on up-to-date data.

Saline water discharges continue

The Europeans Commission´s letter also said that in summer 2024, more than 100 tonnes of fish were again found dead in the Oder River basin, as the algae were still present and the salinity of the water remained high. The letter added that Poland had authorised saline mine water discharges into the river ‘despite their acknowledged negative impact on the water status’.

Water quality remains insufficient

The JRC report, ´The River Oder Disaster – Key lessons to learn´, noted that the entire length of the Oder River was classified as poor for the years preceding the 2022 incident based on biological and chemical condition. The report states that member states need to improve anticipation and intensify work on achieving good status in their waterbodies. “Attention should be paid to the supporting elements listed in annex V of the WFD, which includes salinity as well as nutrients, acidification, thermal and oxygen conditions.”

Procedure

Poland has two months to respond to the letter of the European Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the EU body may refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union.