MPs slam Environmental Inspectorate for botching investigation of Bečva River poisoning

The parliamentary commission set up to monitor the investigation of the Bečva River poisoning in September of last year has released a report on its findings, which is highly critical of the work of the Czech Environmental Inspectorate. The report says samples of the polluted water and dead fish, which are key to identifying the pollutant and finding the culprit, were inadequate and were taken too late, when the toxins were already heavily diluted. Experts who analyzed the samples later told the commission that it was practically impossible to determine who was responsible for the leak. The cyanide leak contaminated a 40-kilometer stretch of the river killing many tons of fish and other river species. The incident happened in a heavily industrialized location, complicating the investigation.