Slurry from a ruptured cesspool on a farm near Podmyce in the Znojmo district has found its way into the Podyji National Park via the River Dyje, according to Jana Kucerova, spokesperson for the Morava River Basin, speaking to CTK.
The pollution reached the Austrian town of Hardegg before noon today. On Monday, water managers measured up to four times the limits for ammonia in Vranov nad Dyji, but no fish deaths were reported. Up to 3,000 cubic metres of liquid manure may have leaked from the ruptured tank on Monday, some of which ended up in the river Dyje. Police are investigating the case.
The pollution is moving very slowly, gradually becoming diluted and getting weaker. However, water managers fear that it could reach the Znojmo reservoir, which supplies drinking water to Znojmo and the surrounding area. However, the reservoir is still miles away from the pollution, and the ammonia should gradually oxidise and evaporate in the water, according to Kucerova.
Police are investigating the rupture of the tank at the farm near Podmyce. “We have initiated criminal proceedings for damaging and endangering the environment through negligence. We are evaluating the circumstances,” police spokesperson Bohumil Malasek said today. Police have not yet charged anyone.
The flow of the slurry also affected several passenger cars and a property in Vranov nad Dyji.
The top part of the tank, with a total volume of about 6,000 cubic metres, burst at the cattle farm of the Petrin Agricultural Cooperative, part of Rhea Holding. Firefighters reported the incident at 7:20am. “After the sudden destruction of the wall of the tank, a massive wave of liquid manure was released, which spread through the valley towards Vranov nad Dyji. In Junacka louka Street, one building and several parked vehicles were flooded. The contamination subsequently spread to the Dyje,” said Jaroslav Mikoska on the fire service website.
The firefighters sent a mobile chemical laboratory and a drone service to the site and focused on remediation and pumping works.
“We are trying to eliminate the damage, we are cooperating with all the forces that are at the site,” Josef Kolar, director of the agricultural company, told CTK on Monday. He said it was a roughly nine-year-old concrete tank that had all the necessary inspections. “It was not completely full, whether the frost was to blame, I don’t know,” he said.
The Morava River basin is monitoring the Dyje, taking samples from the entire length of the river from the accident site to the Znojmo reservoir. It is tracking how fast and in what concentrations the ammonia is moving towards the reservoir. The Znojmo reservoir is mainly used by the local water company, which treats the water and supplies drinking water to Znojmo and the surrounding municipalities.
