Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

In the morning of the 11/01, service staff at the Podebrady and Nymburk dams informed the water management control centre of the Labe river catchment authorities of considerable fish fatalities near the hydraulic power station. The police, the inspection authorities and the local fishery unions were informed. Analysis of the dead fishes determined an accidental degradation of water quality caused by cyanides. After researches, the inspection found out that a discharge of wastewater containing cyanides occurred 2 days earlier from the wastewater treatment plant of a chemical company.

The freezing of the floating alarm device controlling the maximum level of wastewater in detoxication sump No. 3 provoked an overflow of toxic wastewater into the sewage system and later into the River Labe (Elbe). The problem was aggravated by a lack of communication between the shifts during shift changes and towards the general manager of the WWTP when a problem was met, as well as the insufficient securing or no securing at all of pump hose during pumping.

The operator doubled the amount of floating signalization gauges, introduced physical checks of the working of the floating signalisation gauges at the beginning of each shift change, increased the checks during the filling of detoxication sumps, checked the integrity of all the above-ground supply pipes, and increased the frequency of analyses of discharged wastewater. The training of the technicians was improved. Compensation of CRS of 80,000 euros is paid.