Romania Says Heavy Metal Spilled Into North River

Romania Says Heavy Metal Spilled Into North River

Planet Ark (Reuters)

September 7, 2004

BUCHAREST - Romanian environmental officials on Sunday investigated a spill of toxic heavy metals into a river in the north of the country that has reportedly caused neighboring Ukraine to cut water supplies to five towns.

"A faulty hydro-transport pipeline at the Baia Borsa gold mine in Romania had broken and started to spread sludge containing zinc, lead and copper into the Cisla river," an official from the regional environment authority told Reuters. The spill occurred in northern Romania, some 60 miles from the border with Ukraine, Romania's Environment Ministry said. Cisla is a tributary of the Viseu river, which flows into the Tisa river which flows into Ukraine and then into Hungary.

The incident, which occurred at midnight on Saturday, is being investigated by a commission of experts, the regional official said.

"We moved quickly and managed to pump 80 cubic meters of polluted water off the (Cisla) river and the situation was under control ... we found no dead fish," the official said, adding that the spill did not spread into Viseu or the Tisa river.

"We notified environment authorities from Ukraine and Hungary in due course," the official said.

BBC quoted a report by Ukrainian television TV 5 Kanal as saying water supplies have been cut off in five towns and villages in the Ukrainian Transcarpathian Region.

It said hospitals were advised to store drinking water to last for three days and residents were asked not to fish for the time being.

Four years ago, the mining town of Baia Mare, near the border with Hungary, was the site of an ecological disaster after a dam at a local gold smelter collapsed and spilled lethal cyanide and heavy metals into the Danube river.

Toxic River Spill at Baia Borsa Gold Mine

Reuters

September 5 2004

BUCHAREST - Romanian environmental officials on Sunday investigated a spill of toxic heavy metals into a river in the north of the country that has reportedly caused neighbouring Ukraine to cut water supplies to five towns.

"A faulty hydro-transport pipeline at the Baia Borsa gold mine in Romania had broken and started to spread sludge containing zinc, lead and copper into the Cisla river," an official from the regional environment authority told Reuters.

The spill occurred in northern Romania, some 60 miles (100 km) from the border with Ukraine, Romania's Environment Ministry said. Cisla is a tributary of the Viseu river, which flows into the Tisa river which flows into Ukraine and then into Hungary.

The incident, which occurred at midnight on Saturday, is being investigated by a commission of experts, the regional official said.

"We moved quickly and managed to pump 80 cubic metres of polluted water off the (Cisla) river and the situation was under control ... we found no dead fish," the official said, adding that the spill did not spread into Viseu or the Tisa river.

"We notified environment authorities from Ukraine and Hungary in due course," the official said.

BBC quoted a report by Ukrainian television TV 5 Kanal as saying water supplies have been cut off in five towns and villages in the Ukrainian Transcarpathian Region.

It said hospitals were advised to store drinking water to last for three days and residents were asked not to fish for the time being. Four years ago, the mining town of Baia Mare, near the border with Hungary, was the site of an ecological disaster after a dam at a local gold smelter collapsed and spilled lethal cyanide and heavy metals into the nearby river.

Stephanie Roth of the Romanian action group, Alburnus Major, comments (on 16th September):

"Regarding the tailing pond accident in the catchment area of the Aries river that occurrd on 14th September 2004. Cuprumin Abrud Ltd's Rosia Poieni facility released tailing and the copper level is 80 times and iron is 28 times the allowed concentration.

Stefania Simion from Alburnus Maior called the regional environment inspectorate in Alba Iulia, who replied that this is not their responsibility. So Stefania called the Regional Enirvonmental Guard who said that there is nothing to worry about and 'all is under control';) she was referred to the Romanian Water Authority Apele Romane' in Turda who said that they will call us tomorrow...

Guarda de Mediu however, confirmed that no sanctions were made against Cuprumin; this because the accident was not due to human error but to mother nature attacking the Apuseni Mountains with naughty and heavy rainfalls - heard that one before? So did we, back in 2000 in a place called Baia Mare...and we are likely to hear it again with politicians pointing out that the'privatization' of these state owned crumbling mining operations will of course resolve all these problems."

New contamination of Aries

From an original Hungarian source - Jobbik Magyarorszagert Mozgalom

12th August 2004

The contamination of the river Aries, which flows across Toplieni (? - Topanfalva), Baia de Aries, Turda and (Aranyosgyeres), tranquil at draught but fierce when snow melts, has a strange history. Nowadays no-one gets surprised when the water is muddled and yellowish brown. Local people just say negligently "the river is contaminated again" and do not think of the fact that this is the drinking water source of the town, this water they use for watering animals and irrigation.

Experts say, the Aries gets contaminated in two ways: at times of accidents, when pure gift flows in huge quantities into tributary rivulets of Aries from tailing ponds. The other source is continuous contamination, when metals and chemical substances absorbed by the soil get into the river.

In the beginning of August, new contamination of Aries was discovered. It was Marius Masca, chair of the Potaissa Fishers' and Hunters' Association who first realised on the morning of August 5 that the water carries numerous dead fish. He notified local authorities immediately and reported that he found the colour of the water, troubled by heavy rains, very strange; and his fear was confirmed when he found dozens of dead fish after thorougher examination.

When asked about the case in the morning of the day of the spill, the director of the National Water Surveillance Company of Romania, based in Turda, could not give us more details. He said they had also been informed about this and have experts on the ground to assess the scale and causes of the contamination. By the following day, it fortunately turned out that it was no cyanide spill but a large amount of heavy metals got into the river. They figured out that a considerable amount of iron and zinc got into Aries; in a few days, measurings discovered where the contamination came from. It was the tailings pond in the valley of Sesely where the acidic water with heavy metals came from. According to the Hydrotechnical Office in Turda, the new contamination should have happened on the afternoon of August 1, and the reason must have been long-lasting rainfall.

The mining company Cuprumin Abrud Co., owner of the tailings pond does not assume responsibility for the case. Its management claims the recent accident was also due to heavy rains. They say contamination could only be prevented with a large-scale investment, the implementation of which has already started with World Bank financial backing.

Until that time, people living along Aries and hobby anglers can only hope to have nice weather.