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German firm pays Frankfurt EUR 5 mln not to mention its river pollution: report

26.09.2023 12:20
The German city of Frankfurt an der Oder near the Polish border has signed an EUR 5 million  deal with the energy company LEAG, under which city officials committed to not speaking publicly about LEAG’s pollution of the river Spree, according to a Polish website.
The river Spree.
The river Spree.Leonhard Lenz, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The sum of EUR 5 million has been earmarked for a waterworks, biznesalert.pl reported.

René Wilke, the mayor of Frankfurt an der Oder, told the Märkische Oderzeitung newspaper, as cited by biznesalert.pl: “Under the agreement, we won’t pursue any further legal disputes over these facts. That’s the way it always is with agreements.”

The out-of-court deal could be described as a “confidentiality clause” between the city and LEAG, according to Germany’s investigative website Correktiv.

The mayor noted in response that the agreement had been approved by the Frankfurt an der Oder city council  and LEAG’s shareholders, biznesalert.pl reported.

The EUR 5 million agreement between Frankfurt an der Oder and LEAG concerns a 2019 court case over the supply of drinking water to the city, according to news outlets.

The water originated in the river Spree, which had been polluted with sulphate by LEAG, biznesalert.pl reported. 

Meanwhile, Germany is claiming that Polish plants have undermined the quality of water in the region’s biggest river, Oder, a border river between the two countries, the Polish website added.

(pm)

Source: biznesalert.pl, then24.com