7th BALKANMINE CONGRESS – Proceedings, Prijedor 2017

DOI: 10.7251/BMC170702117K

THE PREVIEW OF THE CROSS-BORDER DISASTER IN BAIA MARE

CAUSED BY THE MINING INDUSTRY, AFTER 17 YEARS

Marius KOVACS1, Angelica CĂLĂMAR1, Toth LORAND1 , Sorin SIMION1

1
National Institute for Research and Development in Mine Safety and Protection to Explosion – INSEMEX
Petroşani, Romania, marius.kovacs@insemex.ro, calamar.angela@insemex.ro, lorand.toth@insemex.ro,
sorin.simion@insemex.ro

ABSTRACT

The current paper presents a review of last twenty years of main mining activities, carried out in the
Baia Mare area. Details of the mining activity carried out by the former Romanian state company in
partnership with the Australian company Esmeralda are also included, extensively dealing with the
circumstances of the cyanide spill in 2000.
The disaster of the Baia Mare mining project led to a review of European environmental legislation, in
the coming years. Romaltyn's current proposal announces, as Esmeralda’s did 18 years ago, the use of
the latest technology that complies with European standards. The present reality is, however,
considerably different from that of the 1990s, when civil society not yet consolidated, when there was
no precedent known as dangerous, when local authorities were entirely serviced to mining operators.

Key words: poluant, tailings processing, cyanide, major accident, cross-border pollution

1. BRIEF HISTORY AND LOCATION

According to studies on the history of mining in Maramures, Baia Mare, as well as

surrounding localities, first of all Baia Sprie, was founded because of the presence of ferrous
and non-ferrous ore resources in the area [1].
The mines at the foot of the Gutâi Mountains were, in the second half of the 14th century, the
main sources of gold in the Angevin kingdom. The mining activity continued in the areas of
Ilba and Botiza, in a 60 km long and about 12 km wide area until nowadays.
The area, also known as the 'Baia Mare Golden Zone', brings together, alongside the golden
polygon of the Apuseni Mountains, the most important gold deposits in Romania.

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For the most part, they have been exploited, being estimated that in the course of history,
from the over 20 mineralized structures in the Baia Mare district, about 125 tons of gold have
been extracted [2]. At present, all mines in the Baia Mare area are closed.
Only 9% of the approximately 2000 tons of gold considered to have been over time extracted
from the current territory of Romania, were exploited during communism (1945-1989). In the
years to come, until 2006 when gold mines ceased operations in Romania, 2% of this quantity
was extracted.

2. THE FAILURE OF FOREIGN INVESTMENTS IN MINING, THE BAIA MARE

ACCIDENT

Only a few months after the tailings processing began in Baia Mare, the cyanide accident
occurred on January 30th 2000, known as 'second Chernobyl', because of the devastating
impact it had on the environment. The report, entitled "The Cyanide Leakage from Baia Mare,
Romania", conducted by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, concluded that following the cracking of the Aurul
S.A. tailings dam, about 100,000 cubic meters of liquids and wastes containing between 50
and 100 tons of cyanide, as well as heavy metals reached Săsar river, then Tisa and Danube.
The Tisa Pond was considered as one of the cleanest in Europe, sheltering at least 20
protected species of fish. The crack was probably caused by a combination of mistakes in
designing the installations used by Aurul S.A., unexpected operating conditions and abundant
rains [3]. Romanian sources stated that in Romania the leakage caused interruptions in the
supply of drinking water in 24 cities and costs for purification plants and ot her industries
caused by the interruption of production processes [4].

Four weeks after the accident, cyanide traces were also found in the Danube Delta. According
to official estimates, it took five years for fish to repopulate the affected rivers and ten years
for the complete restoration of flora and fauna. Damage to aquatic life has been aggravated by

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the fact that leakage occurred in winter, when because of low temperature and ice, cyanide
degrades much slower. In addition, cyanide toxicity for fish increases three times for every 13
degrees Celsius of temperature drop .

Hungary has claimed compensations of $ 100 million for the environmental damage caused
by the Aurul S.A. Baia Mare mining company. After the accident, Aurul S.A. received a
single fine of about $ 150 for delays in reporting the accident to the authorities [5]. However,
the UNEP mission report found that in fact the delayed cross-border warning was caused by
Maramureş Environmental Protection Agency, probably due to the fact that the accident
occurred on the weekend. Ten hours have been lost since the Environmental Protection
Agency received the accident notification up to the moment the Romanian Waters were
notified. Therefore, the inhabitants of the area were not informed as early as possible about
the accident.

3. Baia Mare accident - effects on neighboring communities

Testimonies of the area's residents show that the Baia Mare

accident had complex repercussions on their lives. Ana Ghişa
from Săsar has given up selling eggs, milk and vegetables to
the market because people refuse to buy them when they find
out that they come from Săsar: "These are polluted by Aurul",
they say. In the medical office in Săsar, the journalist reports
that the waiting room was full of adults and children, and their
most frequent complaints were related to nausea and vomiting.
Dr. Anca Strempel indicates as problems respiratory affections
and diseases of the digestive system. Although the doctor does
not blame cyanide directly, she says that pollution weakens the
immune system, especially in children, making them
vulnerable to various diseases. Fourteen years after the
accident, although the processing of Baia Mare's gold has left a
significant footprint on neighboring communities, press reports
describing fear and drama of inhabitants are few and
documented particularly by foreign press.

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4. CYANIDE MINING POLLUTION FROM BAIA MARE - SANCTIONED BY AN

ECHR SENTENCE

The European Court decided unanimously in Tătar and Tătar against Romania that the rights
of the two applicants, to a healthy and protected environment was violated by Romania. The
case is an unprecedented one for our country. It is the first sentence that criminalizes Romania
for not respecting citizens' right to an unpolluted environment. Initially, the spill-over has
reinvigorated the efforts of the European Union agencies to establish and apply uniform
standards on the handling of toxic waste. In the long run, however, few have changed
regarding the use of cyanide in mining.

5. POLICY CHANGES FOLLOWING THE BAIA MARE ACCIDENT

In December 2003, the European Union changed part of the environmental legislation. The
Seveso Directive [6]. which regulates major industrial accidents involving hazardous
chemicals, has been adopted. Seveso II replaced the original Seveso Directive, bringing
provisions that regulate the storage of hazardous substances at processing plants and mining
operations. However, Seveso II does not cover tailings ponds containing hazardous
substances, other than heavy metals.
On 15th March 2006, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Directive 2006/21/EC
on the management of waste from extractive industries, regarding the use of cyanide in
mining activities and, at the same time, sets the maximum permitted levels of cyanide
concentration [7].
In the explanatory statement, the Baia Mare accident plays an important part: "Over the last
25 years, worldwide, there have been over 30 major cyanide spill accidents, the worst being
10 years ago, when more than 100,000 cubic meters of cyanide contaminated water were
discharged from a basin of the gold mine in Baia Mare (Romania) into the Tisa- Danube river
system, leading to the worst ecological disaster in Central Europe at the time, and whereas
there is no real guarantee that such accidents will no longer occur, especially in view of the
increasing number of extreme atmospheric phenomena, including abundant and frequent
rainfall, as estimated in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, the resolution calls on the Commission to ban cyanide in mining activities
by 2011”.

6. LESSONS LEARNED

European Commissioner Margot Wallstrom, who held the environmental portfolio in 2000,
visiting the Tisa banks immediately after the accident, said: "We have a lesson to learn from
all of this and we have to act." However, the lessons learned are not so much reflected in the
public policy changes at European or national level but rather in the drawing up of a picture of
mining industry behavior, practices used, propagated discourse and the reaction of the
authorities when faced with accidents environmental [8].
According to the law, local and county environmental authorities have the obligation to
monitor mining operations explicitly carried out to prevent the occurrence of accidents that
affect human health and the environment. However, regulatory agencies are unable to
effectively supervise mining activities because of lack of qualified staff and necessary funds,

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but also because of possible political pressures. In the case of Aurul S.A., the Romanian state
was in conflict of interest when enforcing regulations and environmental sanctions, Remin
Company holding 42% of the shares [9,10, 11]. After the disaster, the Aurul S.A. factory,
later renamed Transgold, has been operating for years, causing minor accidents all the time,
until in 2005 it went bankrupt [12].

7. CONCLUSIONS

The market value of the 5.5 tons of gold extracted from Baia Mare would have been about $
50 million, considering the average value of $ 279 per troy ounce in 2000. The initial
investment of the Romanian state, of 6 million dollars, a lot of direct expenses have been
added, including the hundred million dollars in compensations demanded by Hungary.
Multiple indirect costs, such as the long-term health damage of population in the area, or the
lack of other investors who are rightly afraid to open their businesses in polluted areas, lead to
a minimum opportunity to sell cyanide-extracted gold.
A simple analysis of the distribution of the invariable risks associated with the use of cyanide
shows that the most affected entity is the state on whose territory the mining project is
developed.
The communities in the area are the worst affected, and the nature of the damages makes the
locals living in the area the ones who have pay, at the cost of their health, the very bad
business developed by the authorities. In the case of Baia Mare, the guilty company went into
bankruptcy proceedings and was consequently absolved of any sanctions that should have
been enforced. There are no references to any sanctions imposed on the persons who have
been managing the guilty company.
Even if the locals were able to prove the causation of pollution-induced illnesses, they would
still have no one to call to court for damages. Therefore, the outstanding amounts of money
following cyanide exploitation and accidents caused by the use of this technology are paid by
all taxpayers, including those whose health has suffered. These amounts are well above the
value of a company's profits, even if it is willing to internalize some of the costs. In this case,
these costs were outsourced primarily to the Romanian state and its citizens.\
The analysis of the Baia Mare case and the accidental cyanide spill reveals the attitude of the
control authorities, at the border between incapacity and complicity. They are unable to
predict or react promptly before or during a major accident. Control activity should provide
ceasing of company operations, in the event of non-compliance with the permit conditions.
Tailings overfilling and the breakage or cracking of dams is one of the most common causes
of accidental spills of toxic substances. A simple periodic inspection of the tailing pond could
have shown that the tailings level is too high to keep the water from possible heavy rainfall.
There is no information on sanctions imposed on inspectors who did not foresee this
catastrophe, there are no documents showing that local authorities had presented at least a
collection of lessons learned from the accident or a set of proposals to be taken into account
when approving similar projects.
The 2000 accident remains an unfortunate reference for the shortcomings of cyanide mining
projects. The fact that some authorities consider it appropriate to restart gold mining
operations through cyanide, is just an effect of lack of vision and unjustifiable desire to attract
this type of financial investment to heavily occupied areas. The mere mention of the 2000

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accident should have been sufficient to block any support for the same type of mining project,
taking into account that the first was completed with a tremendous environmental and
financial disaster.

REFERENCES

[1] Roxana Pencea, Tudor Brădăţan, Ştefania Simion Editor: Mining Watch România Design, (2010) 3013
https://miningwatch.ro/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/RaportBaiaMare-MiningWatchRomania.pdf
[2] Tămaş-Badescu, S. - Contribuţii privind geologia economică a aurului în România, Teză de doctorat
[3] Baia Mare Report performed by Mining Watch Romania
[4] Argeşeanu Cunningham,(2005). Solveig, Incident, accident, catastrophe: Cyanide on the Danube
[5] Evans G., (2000)Hungary Faces More Cyanide Problems, Mineral Policy Institute
[6] Directive 2003/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2003 amending
Council Directive 96/82/EC on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances.
[7] Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the management
of waste from extractive industries and amending Directive 2004/35/EC - Statement by the European
Parliament, the Council and the Commission
[8] Report of the International Task Force for Assessing the Baia Mare Accident, 2000
[9] BBC News, Correspondent, Our poison, 2001,
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accessed on 1.11.2013
[10] BBC News, Bulgaria wants compensation for cyanide disaster, 2000,
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[11] BBC News, One year on: Romania’s cyanide spill, 2001, accessed on 1.11.2013
[12] BBC News, Death of a river, 2001, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/642880.stm, accesses on 1.11.2013

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