AAnglers have discovered hundreds of dead fish in the Saale near Bernburg in Saxony-Anhalt. The cause may be an accident in a company. The Saxony-Anhalt Anglers’ Association filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office against unknown persons, as a spokesman for the association said on Monday on request. According to the information, anglers initially discovered several dead fish in the Saale below the weir in Bernburg on Friday morning. Over the weekend, the local fishing club recovered about 300 dead fish. An estimated 3,000 dead fish are believed to have died.
“The Saale is a large river, the anglers first got as many fish out of the Saale as they could,” said the spokesman. Accordingly, the association assumes that more dead fish have been driven along the river. However, the dimensions are not comparable to the mass deaths of fish in the Oder on the German-Polish border. He thinks a connection is unlikely.
Ammoniacal brine escaped
Meanwhile, the company Solvay announced that there was a technical fault in the soda factory of the Bernburg plant early Friday morning. “There was a crack in a pipe through which ammoniacal brine leaked,” said a spokeswoman. The defective pipeline was immediately taken out of service and the escape of ammoniacal brine was stopped. Parts of it got into the Saale for reasons that have not yet been clarified. “We are investigating how this could have happened.”
Ammoniacal brine is liquid and is needed to produce soda. Soda is used in the manufacture of glass and detergents. According to the anglers’ association and the company, the authorities were involved. Solvay is in contact with the water police and the environmental agency of the Salzland district. Water samples were taken from the Saale, which are now being evaluated. “Solvay works closely with the authorities to quickly gain reliable knowledge and, if necessary, to initiate further measures,” said the company’s spokeswoman. First, the “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung” reported on the death of fish in the Saale in Saxony-Anhalt.
