By Jim Green
Melting snow and torrential rains broke a dam at the Baia Borsa lead and zinc mine in Romania, 375 kilometres north-west of Bucharest, on March 10. More than 18,000 tonnes of sediment laden with lead, zinc, copper and a small amount of cyanide entered the Vaser spring and from there flowed into the river Viso, a tributary of the river Tisza.
The levels of contaminants in affected rivers is disputed, and determining the impact of the latest spill is complicated because of other sources of contamination, not least the huge release of cyanide and heavy metals from the Baia Mare gold and silver mine accident in early February.
Romanian authorities said that three pollutants â iron, zinc and lead â exceeded standard levels after the latest spill. According to the Hungarian branches of Friends of the Earth and the World Wide Fund for Nature, the dissolved zinc and lead concentrations still exceeded the relevant thresholds by the time the contaminants reached Hungary on March 12, 185 kilometres from the Baia Borsa mine.
These mines and their waste-disposal reservoirs are ticking time bombs, said Zoltan Illes, chairperson of the environment protection committee of the Hungarian parliament.
In a national radio broadcast on March 11, Romania's environment minister, Romica Tomescu, threatened to shut down mining companies that do not respect the government's safety regulations. However, the Romanian government's record does nothing to inspire confidence. Moreover, the Baia Borsa mine is state-owned, according to the BBC and other sources.
The March 10 accident occurred about 100 kilometres from the cyanide spill in February. Ironically, the latest disaster occurred upstream of the February spill; it had been hoped the upstream river system would be the main source of biological revitalisation of the poisoned river Tisza.
The Western Australian mining company Esmeralda Exploration has gone into voluntary administration in anticipation of multi-million dollar compensation claims arising from the February accident. Esmeralda was a 50% partner in the Baia Mare mine along with the Romanian state firm Remin.
Illes said Esmeralda's move is an attempt to avoid responsibility for damage caused by the spill. He said the Hungarian government will seek compensation from the Romanian government and also pursue Esmeralda's financial backers despite the legal protection provided by voluntary administration. Behind it [Esmeralda] are some investors, some internationally recognised banks, who provided loans for the activities of the Australian firm, Illes said.
Geoff Evans, director of the Sydney-based Mineral Policy Institute, said, The mining accidents which have destroyed the environment and livelihoods along the Tisza and Danube are a tragedy, yet sadly they are not really a surprise.
On our own doorstep in PNG, Indonesia and the Philippines, Australian mining companies continue to create the same problems, Evans said. Disasters such as this will continue until the mining industry is forced to comply with strong, safe and consistent environmental standards wherever they operate.
Following the accident at the Baia Mare mine, non-government organisations from around the world, including the Central and Eastern Europe Bankwatch Network, demanded that the European Investment Bank withdraw financing for goldmining using cyanide technology. The groups are focusing their campaign on the Lihir goldmine in PNG.