preface
On 30 January 2000, a large fissure occurred in a gold mine sewage treatment pond near the northwestern Romanian city of Oradea, where more than 100,000 cubic metres of sewage flowed into the nearby Somes River, through which it entered the Tisza River in Hungary, killing a large number of river fish. The Tisza River, in turn, flows into the Danube in the former Yugoslavia, causing a large number of dead fish.
Cyanide contamination of gold mines in Romania
First, the course of events
At the end of January 2000, the river level in the Romanian city of Oradea soared due to continuous rainfall, and the nearby "Urur Gold Mine" stored cyanide wastewater from the refining of gold in a wastewater reservoir. The rainstorm was getting heavier, but it didn't catch the attention of local people.
Late on the night of January 30, the dam overflowed, and the duty officer immediately reported it to the local police. However, it was too late for more than 100,000 cubic meters of sewage containing highly toxic cyanide and heavy metals such as lead and mercury to flow into the Sommesh River and then into the Tisza River, directly threatening the rivers along Hungary and the former Yugoslavia. After testing, the cyanide content in river water exceeded 2.7mg/L, which was 130 times that of normal amounts, and the highest even exceeded 700 times.
Tips: Cyanide, a collective term for compounds with cyano groups (CN), is a highly toxic substance. Once trace amounts of cyanide enter the gills, the fish can stop breathing immediately.
On 11 February, the polluted river entered the territory of the former Yugoslavia and two days later into the Danube. Romania, Hungary and the former Yugoslavia declared a state of emergency.
Where the river flows, almost all aquatic life dies rapidly, and 80% of the fish in the most serious of the Tisza Rivers die. Large schools of dead fish cover the entire river, and some sections of the river have too many dead fish, blocking the channel and the salvage boats cannot move. The river smells foul.
Dead fish floating on the river
Land animals such as wild boars and foxes on both sides of the river have died, plants have withered in large areas, and some endemic biological species are on the verge of extinction, causing panic among residents and entering a state of emergency in the areas along the river.
2. Impact of the incident
The incident caused more than 800 kilometers of the river to be polluted, which deeply affected the agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishing industries of the countries along the Danube River Basin, with fishermen losing their jobs, cows dying, and drinking water and food safety not being guaranteed. Long after the incident, people did not dare to drink the river water or eat the aquatic products in the river.
The event caused a large number of wildlife deaths, with unpredictable effects on food chains and ecosystems. According to environmental and ecological experts, it is difficult for the ecosystem in the basin to return to the state it was in before the incident.
People salvage dead fish
3. Handling of incidents
(i) The Governments of Hungary and the former Yugoslavia took immediate and urgent action to close water intakes along the river, prohibit drinking and contact with the river water, and provide safe drinking water to more than 2 million people along the river. Tons of poisoned fish are salvaged and safely destroyed to prevent secondary pollution of the surrounding environment.
(ii) Hungary believes that the pollution caused by this incident caused 88 to 90% of the deaths of animals and plants, and Hungary and the former Yugoslavia will suffer for decades, which is the most serious environmental pollution incident in Europe in recent years.
Hungary and the former Yugoslavia demanded that Romania compensate and punish those responsible for the cyanide spill. However, the Romanian government and the company where the incident occurred are still at loggerheads over the issue of accountability and claims.
(c) Urur Gold Mine is a joint venture between Romania and Esmerida Exploration Co., Ltd. in Australia. The company blamed the Romanian government's authorities for the spill of highly toxic substances, citing the fact that it had previously issued several warnings about the potential for the accident, but the Romanian government had ignored it.
A statement from the headquarters of Esmerida argues that "this environmental disaster is not caused by cyanide, at least not as severe as the Hungarian authorities say". "In addition to the dead fish, there are also live fish, if it is cyanide poisoning, there will be no fish alive at all" ... "Since the leak occurred in Romania, why did there not be a dead fish phenomenon in Romania, but there was a dead fish phenomenon in Hungary?" "These absurd remarks have been met with outcry from governments and people. The company also sent a team of experts from Australia to prove its "innocence".
(iv) Greenpeace reacted strongly, believing that Esmerida had caused such a serious ecological disaster and caused serious damage to the ecological environment of all rivers in southeastern Hungary, and should bear corresponding responsibility. Moreover, the use of cyanide and heavy metals to refine gold is prohibited by the European Union.
At that time, the Romanian government, which was anxious to join the European Union, showed a very positive attitude. The Romanian Government held Esmerida, as the operator of the gold mine, responsible for the cyanide spill and compensated for the damage caused. Mugur Isărescu, then Prime Minister of Romania, has ordered an investigation into the matter, forming a joint commission of inquiry with Hungarian experts to investigate and assess the damage caused by the incident.
(6) On February 14, a sample was taken 1 km from the place of the incident, and the content of cyanide was 0.016 mg/L, which was lower than the European standard. Samples from the Sumesh River showed 50% of phytoplankton and 20% of zooplankton. After 15 days, the phytoplankton recovered to 75% and the zooplankton recovered to 50%. Ecology is slowly beginning to recover.
postscript
In 2000, some countries along the Danube held a series of meetings calling for immediate measures to comprehensively address environmental pollution in the Danube and protect the Black Sea from pollution. The Global Environmental Protection Fund has decided to provide $60 million in aid to countries bordering the Danube and Black Sea to support environmental efforts in the region.
In addition, the Environment Programme, UNDP and the World Bank have developed an environmental plan for the Danube Basin, including the establishment of an alert system for sudden pollution accidents, public awareness and support for wetland restoration, to reduce pollution in the Danube Basin and the Black Sea, which has enabled the environmental status of the Danube Basin to continue to improve.
Looking back at the incident, the "city gate fire" in the upstream of the river eventually caused an ecological disaster in the downstream country, which reminded people that in the face of the global ecological environment, no country can stand alone, and only by strengthening cooperation can it be effectively dealt with.