Significant pollution of the fish

Fish in the Dortmund-Ems Canal are still polluted

04/05/2011

The pollutant load of the fish in the Dortmund-Ems channel is still significantly increased after the tanker explosion refinery harbor Lingen, according to an official release from the district of Emsland. The environmental protection association NABU had already warned immediately after the disaster that the released pollutants as toxic deposits in the sediment over a longer period of time can also lead to burdens on new immigrant fish.

The fears of conservationists have apparently been confirmed. About a month after the tanker „Alpsray“ exploded in Lingen refinery harbor, the fish in the Dortmund-Ems channel are still heavily contaminated with pollutants, said a spokesman for the district of Emsland. The explosion of the tanker and the subsequent firefighting caused a regional environmental catastrophe, in which thousands of fish died in the Dortmund-Ems-Kanal.

Pollutant load of living fish increased twentyfold
According to the information provided by the district of Emsland, the pollutant levels of the fishes that have been examined so far were five to ten times higher than the usual background levels for so-called perfluorinated surfactants (PFOS). The PFOS burden on live fish is even 20 times higher, according to the official release. The unfortunate thing is that the chemical PFOS did not get directly into the Dortmund-Ems-Kanal through the damaged tanker but through the required extinguishing work. Because the surfactants are part of the extinguishing foam. However, it has not yet been conclusively clarified which pollutants have entered the river during the catastrophe. However, in addition to the extinguishing foam, thousands of liters of gas flowed into the canal, so that there „a highly toxic water-soluble emulsion“ biologist Jutta Over from NABU Emsland explained. This emulsion will „taken from aquatic animals via skin and gills“, so that significant pollution levels are the result. As toxic deposits accumulate in the area of ​​the riverbed, riprap and riparian shrubs, the river probably remains contaminated for a long time, explained the conservationist. These concerns are regrettably confirmed by the recent findings of the State Office for Consumer Protection (LAVES) in Oldenburg, which had checked the pollution levels of fish on behalf of the district of Emsland.

Oxygen depletion in the river sole cause of fish death?
According to the district of Emsland, the oxygen depletion in the river due to the breakdown of extinguishing foam has been overcome since mid-April and the oxygen levels are now back at around ten milligrams per liter „green area“, so the message of the authorities. Oxygen poverty was officially blamed as a major reason for the massive fish killing immediately after the disaster, but NABU disagreed with this statement from the outset. So the biologist Jutta Over told the „Meppener Tagespost“, that the temporary oxygen depletion caused by the degradation of the extinguishing foams is not sufficient as an explanation for the fish extinction. Also, the conservationists practiced massive criticism of the crisis management of the district, as the channel was released again for shipping two days after the tanker explosion. As a result, the large amounts of the emulsion of extinguishing foam and gasoline still in the flow were repeatedly foamed and carried on. Also, the pursued goal of the dilution is rather to be understood as a bad stopgap solution, since the pollutants accumulate over time even at rather harmless concentrations and thus can cause considerable damage in the long term.

Preliminary investigation into the causes of the explosion
In addition to the investigations into the environmental consequences of the tanker explosion, the investigations into the possible cause of the explosion at the Lingen refinery harbor are underway. As the Osnabrück public prosecutor Alexander Retemeyer in an interview with the station „NDR 1 Lower Saxony“ confirmed, preliminary investigations were initiated against several persons. Who the suspects are and how accurate an indictment could be, but so far unclear. Also left open so far, whether it was technical or human error, which caused the disaster, said the chief prosecutor. (Fp)

Read about:
Dioxin contaminated fish in Lower Saxony
Dioxin scandal: majority no longer has confidence
Antibiotic detected in feed
Fat fish prevents diabetes and heart disease

Picture: Photo: NABU / Helge May