Hungary hit again by pollution from Romania

Source: AFP | Published: Thursday March 16, 5:07 AM

BUDAPEST, March 15 - Hungary was hit for the third time in barely a month today by toxic pollutants spilled by Romanian mines into the Danube river system.

Officials have demanded urgent action to prevent further trouble.

Romania's Novat mine in north-western Baia Borsa admitted responsibility today for the spill of 150 cubic metres of sludge containing zinc, lead and copper into the river Tisza, the Danube's largest tributary.

It was the third time since late January that the Tisza was polluted by toxic waste from Romanian mines, including a spill of 100,000 cubic metres of cyanide-laced water that killed thousands of fish and affected Hungary, Yugoslavia and Ukraine.

Hungarian Environment Minister Pal Pepo immediately called for an 'extraordinary meeting' with his Romanian and Ukrainian counterparts this week to discuss the string of accidents.

Speaking in the northern town Vasarosnameny, on the Tisza, Pepo also appealed to international organisations to use 'the means at their disposal against Romania in order to prevent further river pollution,' the MTI news agency said.

A UN team of experts who had been in central Hungary measuring the effects of a spill last week of water containing heavy metals immediately travelled to the north to check on the new pollution, said Gaspar Bodnar of the Upper Tisza region water authority.

Last week's spill of 20,000 cubic metres of tainted water from the Novat mine forced Hungary to ban all use of Tisza waters from last Monday.

In Romania, a spokesman for the Novat mine said rising waters and ice led to the overflow of waste from a reservoir and into the Tisza.

The metal waste, including zinc, lead, and brass, formed a dark film on the surface of the water, said the official, Augustin Spataru.

Hungary, which is working hard to catch up with European Union standards to join the union, has been exasperated by the repeated pollution from Romania.

Hungarian officials called the January cyanide spill the worst ecological disaster in the region since the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident.

The spill killed 200 tonnes of fish in Hungary alone as it travelled along the Tisza into the Danube in Yugoslavia and down to the Black Sea.

Yugoslavia, which also fished out tonnes of dead fish from the spill, called on the international community to 'punish' Romania for its 'irresponsibilty' after the second spill. http://www.theage.com.au/breaking/0003/16/A12387-2000Mar16.shtml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 16, 2000

Answers

Cyanide spill move a ruse, says Hungary

Friday 17 March 2000

Moves by the Australian company Esmeralda Exploration towards declaring bankruptcy were a "trick" to avoid paying millions in compensation after a cyanide spill that tainted river systems across Europe, a Hungarian official said yesterday.

Esmeralda placed itself in administration yesterday as its shares remained suspended, after a cyanide spill in January from the tailings dam of its half-owned Baia Mare gold tailings project in Romania.

The spill allegedly killed tonnes of fish, destroyed fishermen's livelihoods and poisoned the drinking water of more than two million people relying on rivers running through Romania, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Ukraine.

Administrators said yesterday they were awaiting the release of reports into the spill before assessing Esmeralda's level of liability.

Mr Kim Strickland, of Hall Chadwick chartered accountants, said at least five environmental inquiries were being conducted into the incident, and those reports had to be studied before any "liability levels" could be determined.

The head of the Hungarian Parliament's environmental protection committee, Mr Zoltan Illes, said yesterday Esmeralda going into voluntary administration was a ruse to try to avoid responsibility.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/20000317/A13635-2000Mar16.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 16, 2000.