You have been sent this message from This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it as a courtesy of the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com). To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer... Huge Zinc, Lead Spill in Romania BUCHAREST, Romania ––  The accidental dumping of 20,000 tons of lead and other _meta_ls from a mine in northwestern Romania has caused levels of the pollutants in the nation's rivers to skyrocket, the government said today. <P The new pollution, which came six weeks after a deadly cyanide spill, occurred Friday when melting snow and torrential rains broke a dam at the state-owned Baia Borsa mine, sending a wave of zinc and lead contaminated waters into the Vaser River. <P The Romanian government reported that water from the Vaser, the Viseu River and the Romanian section of the Tisza River had higher than admissible levels of zinc and lead. <P Lead was up to four times the acceptable level of 0.05 milligrams per liter early today, while zinc was at least 16 times the acceptable level, said Carla Chivu, spokeswoman for the Environment Ministry. <P National radio quoted Environment Minister Romica Tomescu as saying zinc levels were 50 times higher earlier in the day. He added that zinc was not particularly dangerous to wildlife in the river. <P The pollution was expected to reach neighboring Hungary sometime today, officials there said. <P There were no immediate reports of dead fish in Romania, and water samples were being measured every two hours, Romanian state radio reported. Meanwhile, the worst floods in 30 years inundated the northwest region, making it difficult for authorities to inspect some of the sites. <P In a statement issued Friday, the Romanian Environment Ministry said the polluted waters were heading toward the Tisza and Danube rivers – already badly polluted by the previous escape of cyanide. <P Tons of cyanide-laden waters spilled six weeks ago 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. <P Hungary said it was testing the waters of the Tisza. The Vaser enters the Tisza near the Ukrainian-Romanian border. <P We still do not have precise information on the composition of the pollutants, said Hungarian Environment Minister Pal Pepo, who was interviewed by television stations on a bridge over the Tisza River at Tivadar near the Romanian border during the night. <P What is especially worrisome in this case is that the pollution entered the Tisza (on the Romanian-Ukrainian border) far upriver from where the cyanide poisoning occurred in January, now polluting a stretch where waterlife had remained untouched earlier, Janos Goenczy, a Hungarian government official, said Friday. <P There was no immediate word of how much environmental damage has been done by the latest spill. <P 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 riverbeds.

You have been sent this message from This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it as a courtesy of the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com). To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer... Baia Mare Romania's Polluted City BAIA MARE, Romania ––  After the second major pollution spill in six weeks, most residents of this northwestern town agree that they live in Romania's most polluted region. <P But the mines and factories which foul the air, poison the rivers and ruin the soil also provide jobs in a country where there aren't many. <P It's a simple argument. Rather than dying of hunger now, I would prefer to die later of pollution, said Rozalia Cosma, head of the environmental lab at a lead processing company. <P Baia Mare gained international infamy when cyanide spilled from a nearby reservoir on Jan. 30, sending poisonous water gushing into the Tisza and Danube Rivers, killing hundreds of tons of fish in four southeastern European countries. <P On Friday, a dam at a state-owned zinc and lead plant burst just 60 miles away, sending 20,000 tons of deadly zinc, lead and iron into the same rivers. <P But while the international community has been shocked by these environmental disasters, the 150,000 residents of Baia Mare, a town sheltered by fir covered hills near the Hungarian and Ukrainian borders, have long become accustomed to levels of pollution which most Europeans and Americans would find intolerable. <P According to local health officials, Baia Mare's residents on average die six years before reaching the national average life expectancy of 69. Children and adults suffer from lead poisoning, decaying teeth and respiratory diseases due to the noxious cocktail of gases spewed into the air. <P The Sasar river, which flows through the city, has no life in it. Environmentalists say it carries a deadly mixture of zinc, copper, manganese and cadmium. <P According to public health statistics, some 11,000 workers in Baia Mare are suffering from some kind of work-related disease. Workers here are 30 times more likely to suffer a job-related disease than counterparts in Bucharest, where 10 percent of the country's industry is located. <P But the 11 mines and three factories in this city, 265 miles northwest of Bucharest, provide jobs in a country with double-digit unemployment and an average monthly income of less than $100. <P Mayor Cristian Anghel acknowledges the dangerously high levels of pollution, but argues that people need jobs. We have to favor both sides, he said. <P Pollution has been a problem in the region since former Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu began an industrialization program in the 1960s with scant regard for people's health or the environment. <P But the problem continues because the skilled labor force, willing to take big risks for low wages, has attracted foreign investors. Australia's Esmeralda Exploration Ltd., which bought half of the Aurul gold mine in 1997, was warmly welcomed when it brought 3,000 jobs to Baia Mare with few people questioning the company's environmental policies. <P After the January spill, however, some are having second thoughts. <P Farmers in nearby Bozanta Mare complain they cannot sell their milk, cheese or organically grown vegetables because townspeople are afraid to buy them. <P I walk the streets like a leper in the Bible: nobody sees me, nobody touches me, and nobody wants to buy from me anymore, said Ilie Mihut, 55, who used to supplement his $43 monthly pension by selling milk, cheese and eggs. He fears he may be forced to leave the village because experts warned the cyanide from the spill will permeate the soil. <P Mihut believes that once the international furor over the spill fades and international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union withdraw, Aurul will continue to pollute their community. <P Romanians are unaccustomed to filing lawsuits against the authorities and are skeptical whether the limited amount of funds promised so far by the government will ever reach them. <P Let God's will be done. We don't know whether we will die today or tomorrow, said Mihut, leaning on his slatted fence and casting his eyes down to the muddy road. <P ––– <P On the Net: World Wildlife Fund site on the cyanide spill: http://www.panda.org/crisis/