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Massive Cyanide Spill by Australian Mining Company
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The Australian company Esmeralda was involved with a massive cyanide spill in Romania and Hungary. A waste dam in northwest Romania, near Bia Mare, ruptured and spilled cyanide into the tributaries of the Theiss River and has resulted in serious environmental damage, including significant fish kills. The mining operation used the cyanide to extract gold from mine waste (tailings). The dam overflowed, and as a result 100,000 cubic meters of water contaminated with cyanide and heavy metals was released into the Szamos River, Hungary's second largest river.
The company may be bankrupted by this disaster. Romania's and Hungary's people and their environment may be left with no one to pay for the damage. This adds to the legacy of environmental disasters by Australian mining companies. Serious accidents like this are an inevitable and tragic consequence of using cyanide for gold extraction. Australian companies operating overseas must be held accountable. The company has not posted a bond. When contacted by the Mineral Policy Institute Esmeralda spokespersons admitted design problems at their Romanian operation meant rain and snowfall in December and January filled the dam beyond capacity. The dam was supposedly designed for a one in hundred year flood and the recent falls were only one in fifty year. The Australian mining industry markets itself on its ability to provide world's best practice. Yet increasingly it is known for mining companies which export environmental and social disasters.
The dam sits in the middle of town, fifty metres from an apartment block. The river flows in to Hungary from Romania. The Theiss is the second largest river in Hungary and runs through many small villages and larger cities such as Szdlnok and Sxeged before flowing into the Danube. Reports out of Budapest Hungary of masses of dead fish along the river appear to confirm some of the worst fears about the level of cyanide contamination but ice on the water has made it difficult to assess the full extent of the damage. The cold water temperatures are likely to mean that the cyanide solution will dissolve more slowly. The ice will decrease the ability of sunlight and oxygen to work to breakdown the cyanide. As a result the impacts are likely to be more long-term in nature. 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.
"The death of our rivers is too great a price to pay. Disasters such as this will continue until the mining industry is forced to comply with strong, safe and consistent environmental standards wherever they operate"
Geoff Evans
For more information, please contact:
Igor O'Neill
Workphone: +62 21 794 1672
Mobile: +62 81 286 12 286
Created: 08 Feb 2000 | Last updated: 08 Feb 2000
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