Huge zinc and lead spill in northwestern Romania

["Ulhas Joglekar" <ulhasj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

12 March 2000

Huge zinc and lead spill in northwestern Romania
BUCHAREST: Six weeks after a major cyanide spill in northwestern Romania,
20,000 tons of metal pollutants escaped from a mine in the same region, the
government said.
The new spill occurred when melting of snow and torrential rains broke a dam
at the state-owned Baia Borsa mine, sending a wave of zinc and lead-laden
waters into Vaser River.
The environment ministry said in a statement Friday that the polluted waters
were heading toward the Tisza and the Danube rivers, already damaged by the
previous escape of cyanide.
Hungary said it was testing the waters of the Tisza. The Vaser enters the
Tisza near the Ukrainian-Romanian border.
The hazardous metal pollution had already reached Ukraine and was expected
to be carried by the Tisza into Hungary Friday night, he said.
There was no immediate word of how much environmental damage such an escape
of pollution-laden water could cause. However, Andrei Svoronos, head of
Romania's Danube Delta natural reserve, said he believed that the ore would
not flow as far as the cyanide did because it would settle into the river
beds.
The latest spill came six weeks after tons of cyanide-laden waters spilled
into a creek from the Aurul gold mine. The pollution flowed into three
Balkan rivers and the Danube, killing wildlife and temporarily poisoning
water supplies for river communities. (AP)
For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service
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