Romanian cyanide disaster now threatens farmers

Romanian farmers are afraid the cyanide spill will contaminate their drinking water and kill their livestock

From Correspondent Mary Pflum

March 14, 2000
Web posted at: 12:06 p.m. EST (1706 GMT)

BAIA MARE, Romania (CNN) -- Cleanup operations are under way in northern Romania, the site of a deadly cyanide spill in late January that left a trail of death along several major waterways in Eastern Europe. But the environmental disaster has affected more than fish and wildlife.

Anna D'Mash is afraid that her sole means of income could be wiped out. Her family's clean water supply is dwindling and she worries that soon her cows and horses will die from drinking contaminated water.

The source of D'Mash's anxiety is the pool used by the Aurul mining company to separate gold from ore. On January 30, thousands of liters of poisonous water seeped through the ditch's earthen walls, causing what authorities call Europe's worst environmental disaster in more than a decade.

Area wells like Anna's were contaminated with up to 50 times the acceptable level of cyanide. Residents said the spill was predictable and preventable.

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"We've known for a long time we had problems here. But in the (late President Nicolae) Ceausescu regime, it was difficult. No one wanted to acknowledge there were problems," said Maj. Radu Anderciuc, a Romanian disaster management official.

Today the town of Baia Mare has three gold plants, including Aural, jointly owned by the Romanian government and the Australian-owned Esmerelda gold mining company.

Australian officials said the plant suffered from environmental problems when merger talks began 10 years ago. The Australians built a new plant and said they sought to clean up what they could of the old one.

But residents of the town insist they didn't do enough. "They didn't respect the rules of using that dam. When you get a higher level of cyanide, you should build a tougher dam and they didn't," said Filip Moisei, president of the Baia Mare Ecological Society.

The Aural gold plant closed after the spill

The Aural plant closed after the spill. While quiet, some say it remains unsafe. If the plant isn't reopened soon, Australian officials warned, Baia Mare may experience even bigger troubles. Torrential rains are expected this spring, which could cause the cyanide-filled ditch to flood again.

D'Mash remains scared, but can do little more than watch an international team of inspectors setting up camp on the land she's called home for 54 years. She and her neighbors want the old days back -- with clean water, healthy livestock and a future to look forward to.

EU official: Polluter should pay for killer cyanide spill
Gold mine company denies resposibility for huge cyanide spill
Cyanide spill pours across border into Yugoslavia

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