Fieldnote Nov 22 2022 - 2:27pm

There are two main environmental conflicts in Staßfurt that are frequently discussed and still remain unresolved to this day. Water pollution with Ammonia and Chloride of the river Bode and Air pollution with corrosive dust, especially around the Atzendorfer Straße. In both cases, government agencies claim that the cause of the pollution is unknown while citizens and sometimes also official reports claim that the polluters are pretty easy to identify. There ist one major company that discharges into the river Bode, CIECH Soda and there is a high concentration of the metalworks industry around the Atzendorfer Straße.

One example of the local press reporting on water pollution: https://www.volksstimme.de/amp/lokal/stassfurt/bode-wieder-milchige-verf.... Cause is reported to be unknown. The state parliament reports inconclusive findings why the fish in the river are dying: https://www.landtag.sachsen-anhalt.de/2019/dem-fischsterben-in-der-bode-....

This contradicts studies issued by the State Office for Flood Protection and Water Management that have already stated in 2012:
"The main discharger, the Staßfurt soda works, makes it impossible to achieve the Water Framework Directive management objective for the SAL19OW01-00 surface water body from the point of view of salt pollution, ammonium and ammonia pollution as well as the resulting load on the oxygen balance. Even in the case of an operation free of disturbances according to the approved discharge conditions toxic ammonia concentrations will be reached again and again - at least during low flow high summer conditions in the downstream of the discharge - and corresponding fish kills will occur." (Ellmann, Schulze und Steinmetz. 2012. Translated with DeepL)

In a similar fashion, causes for corrosive dust could never be officially confirmed (https://www.volksstimme.de/lokal/stassfurt/staub-in-stassfurt-ergebnisse...) despite several studies and heated discussions in the state parliament (Landtag von Sachsen-Anhalt. 2020).

The missing proof for the causes seems to be more a result of a lack of  willingness to call out the perpetrators than scientifically inconclusive analysis.