Romania: The Aquatic Chernobyl Presented By Joe Litchfield

Introduction On January 30, 2000 a tailings dam broke at a goldmine near Baia Mare in Northwestern Romania. This was the beginning of the worst environmental disaster in Eastern Europe since Chernobyl.

A Regional View http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/country/romania.html http://www.mineralresourcesforum.org/incidents/BaiaMare/maps.htm

The Disaster 3.5 million cubic feet of lethal sodium cyanide was released when the tailings dam burst. Zazar and Lapos in the upper watershed of the Somes River. Traveled through the Somes River in Romania, to the Tisza River in Hungary, and to the Danube River in Serbia. Poisoning 2.5 million citizens drinking water along the way.

The Disaster http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/790727.stm

Hungary Most of the contaminants ended up affecting Hungary’s Tisza River. Outlined in red is the Tisza Basin watershed. http://www.rec.hu/tisza/TRB_geodata.htm

What was released? Cyanide is used to extract gold from ore. High cyanide content recycled water from tailings dam. Tailings produced by the goldmine. Tailings are a liquid waste product laced with leftover heavy metals. http://www.marthamine.co.nz/waste_tailings.html

Tailings Dam Natural ground Pond of water Tailings beach Embankment crest Zoned waste rock embankment structure Consolidated tailings

Tailings 1 gram of gold is commonly produced from 1 ton of tailings or ore. The cyanide used in extracting gold from tailings can be diluted by large volumes of water. Heavy metal parts were deposited in the mud of the rivers. Metal disintegrates slowly and is poisonous to the rivers for much longer than the cyanide.

Tailings Dam www.northern.org/artman/knox.shtml

What is Cyanide A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the group C≡N, which is the carbon atom triple bonded to the nitrogen atom. Examples of simple cyanide compounds are hydrogen cyanide, sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide. Chemical Label = (NaCN)

Cyanide Cyanide can be produced by certain bacteria, fungi, algae, and it is found in a number of foods and plants Cyanide occurs naturally in cassava roots, which are potato-like tubers of cassava plants grown in tropical countries. Cyanide was used in Nazi concentration camps to murder millions. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts8.html

Fish Kill 80% of the fish in the Tisza River were killed off. 38 different species found. Cyanide levels after the spill were 700 times the normal level. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/641566.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1639546.stm

Fish Kill About 15% of the kill was pulled out of the river. 15% floated south to Serbia. The rest of the stock is believed to have sunken into the riverbed. This will further local drinking water problems along the river. Tisza River flows through the Hortobagy Wetlands, which had been rich in bird life. http://www.zpok.hu/~jfeiler/baiamare/images/cian7.jpg

Environmental Concerns The disaster poisoned 2.5 million citizens drinking water. An addition to cyanide, copper, zinc and lead were also released. All of which exceeded the pollution threshold. Estimates of 80% of the flora and fauna of the central Tisza River basin have been wiped out.

Economic Concerns Shut down communities along the river that depend on the Tisza River and Hortobagy Marshes for water, food, and tourism. Some farmers had to quit cultivation all together. Hungarian fishing industry highly affected. 11 to 19.4 million $ USD in economic losses one year later. Which is 3 to 4.3 billion Forints = Hungarian Currency.

Mourning Along the Tisza http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/642880.stm

Aural Gold 50% owned by Australian mining company Esmeralda Exploration. 50% owned by Romanian state mining company. ESE on the Australian stock exchange.

Esmeralda Exploration Esmeralda blamed the environmental disaster on precipitation and recent heavy snow melts. Failed to take responsibility, so the Romanian Government did, but acted slowly. It took 2 days to stop the overflow. Opened the mine up 6 months after the disaster.

Around the World The Aural disaster strengthened campaigns to ban cyanide use in mining in Czech Republic, Colorado, Montana, Wisconsin, and elsewhere. Was a good example to use against the implementation of the Crandon Mine in NE Wisconsin.

EU and NATO Findings 1. Design flaws in the calculation of the required water balance of the plant.   2. Unusually wet weather which highlighted the consequence of the design flaws.  3. Operator error. 4. Flaws in the Romanian licensing procedures.

Another Disaster! Melting snow and heavy precipitation broke a tailings dam at Baia Borsa lead and zinc mine a month later on March 10, 2000. 18,000 tons of sediment with lead, zinc, copper and cyanide. The pollution made its way to the Tisza River.

Bibliography Drillbits & Tailings - http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/5_11/3.html The Baia Mare Accident - http://www.zpok.hu/~jfeiler/baiamare/accidentdescription.htm Newmont Mining - www.marthamine.co.nz/waste_tailings.html Archive Worldwide Hot Spots - http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/html/hungary000210.html BBCNews - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/642880.stm The Green Left - http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2000/398/398p23.htm CNN – http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/02/14/yugo.cyanide.01/