Fish and eggs in farms around Spolana chemical plant are inedible due to high content of toxic substances
Farm products in an area around the infamous Czech chemical plant Spolana, north of Prague have been found to be completely inedible due to a high content of toxic substances. Experts have found chemicals such as DDT and mercury in fish and eggs and are examining other species and products. One of the possible explanations for the contamination is that massive floods that hit the Czech Republic last summer washed chemicals out into the area by the plant. A definite cause, however, has yet to be established.
The Spolana chemical plant, just 30 kilometres North of Prague, is notorious for leaks of dangerous chemical substances, such as chlorine that repeatedly killed vegetation and endangered human and animal life in the area in the past.
Excessive amounts of mercury, dioxins and DDT have now been discovered in fish, farm hens and eggs in an area adjacent to the plant. Health authorities have declared related farm products inedible. Further tests are being carried out to check if other wild and farm species are also affected. At the same time, samples have been taken in nearby areas that were not hit by the flood wave last August to determine, whether the contamination is due to the floods or other leaks.
The international environmental organisation Greenpeace included Spolana in its "Company Crimes" report presented at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg last year. The organisation has been monitoring pollution around the plant for several years and have repeatedly accused Spolana of holding back information on matters that present a serious public threat.
