A warehouse accident in southern Denmark has devastated aquatic life along a 2.5-kilometre stretch of Smedeby Bæk, a stream near the German border, after an estimated one million litres of beer and soft drinks flowed into the waterway. Between 1,500 and 2,000 pallets toppled at a storage facility in Padborg on 19 June, triggering the massive discharge.
The pollution went undetected until 7 July, when a resident reported the smell of beer emanating from the water. By then, fish and water crowfoot plants across the affected stretch were dead, and the full extent of the damage had been confirmed by local authorities.
Aabenraa Municipality is now pumping contaminated water from nearby Møllesøen into the sewage system and expects the cleanup to be completed within three days.