“I am convinced that the causes of the catastrophe on the Oder should be determined by scientists. Because there are no simple causes in this catastrophe and that is why they must be determined by experts and scientists”, said Maciej Wąsik, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration and a member of the inter-ministerial team for the contamination of the Oder River.

Deputy Minister Wąsik stated in the programme that, in the current situation, the task of the state authorities is “to clean up the Oder River, to remove the consequences of the disaster, to make sure that the appropriate samples are taken and tested and to take care of the water intakes so that they are safe”.

He also reported that last weekend, all services were working 24 hours a day to determine the causes of the disaster and remove its effects as quickly as possible. As an example, he cited the actions of the Fire Brigade, which built seven dams on the Oder to facilitate the trapping of fallen fish.

“Every day, data from water samples from the Oder are analysed.  There is no danger at all. The water is clean, the water is uncontaminated”, assured the deputy head of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration and stressed that there is no danger “in relation to the water running from the taps”.

In response to a question on whether it was possible that the Oder had been deliberately poisoned as part of a hybrid war, he said that so far, no data indicated this.

Referring to the case of Lower Silesian Voivode Jarosław Obrębski, who, while on leave, was said by the media to have reacted inappropriately to the crisis situation, Deputy Minister Maciej Wąsik informed that the Prime Minister would examine these actions carefully. At the same time, he confirmed that further resignations were not ruled out in connection with the environmental disaster on the Oder.

Adrian Andrzejewski