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DAM-L Death of a River <fwd>



Story from earlier this year.
 
heavy graphics URL is at:
http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_642000/642880.stm

-Dianne

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 The BBC's
Jonathan Charles
''The fishermen
have no idea how
they will survive''
   real 28k 



              Tuesday, 15 February, 2000, 15:15 GMT 
              Death of a river



              The Upper Tisza was one of Europe's
              cleanest rivers



              By BBC News Online's Emma Batha 

              The poisoning of the river Tisza has
              been called the worst environmental
              disaster since the Chernobyl nuclear
              leak in 1986. 

              A 40km long flow of toxic cyanide has
              wiped out the river's entire
              ecosystem in a matter of days -
              everything from microbes to otters. 

              On 30 January, 100,000 cubic metres
              of contaminated water burst through
              a dam at a mining works in northern
              Romania. 

              It has since
              travelled 1000km
              through Hungary
              and Yugoslavia
              where it has now
              entered the
              Danube. Drinking
              water supplies in
              all three countries
              have been
              poisoned. 

              When the cyanide
              first poured into
              the Somes river, tests showed
              concentrations were 700 times the
              permitted level. 

              But it is the Tisza, Hungary's second
              biggest river, which has borne the
              brunt of the catastrophe. 

              The statistics are mind-boggling.
              Environmentalists say around 650
              tonnes of dead fish have been
              retrieved so far and expect the figure
              to double in the next week. 

              The drinking supplies of 2.5 million
              Hungarians are threatened and an
              estimated 15,000 people in the
              fishing industry have seen their
              livelihood vanish. 

              'Nothing is alive' 

              Biologists say it will take about five
              years to restock the fish and 10 to 20
              years for river life to return. 

              But they believe some of the damage
              is irreversible with several species
              thought to be gone forever. 

              Around 62 types of fish and 20
              protected species have been affected.


              Ironically, the disaster happened as
              Hungary was in the middle of
              applying to have part of the Tisza
              placed under the Ramsar Convention,
              a treaty designed to preserve
              wetlands of international importance.

              ''They can throw
              away the
              application now,''
              said Jozsef Feiler,
              of Friends of the
              Earth in Hungary.
              ''Everything down
              to bacteria is
              dead. There's
              more life in a
              sewage channel
              than this river
              now. Nothing is
              alive. Zero.'' 

              Volunteers and fishermen are working
              around the clock to remove the dead
              fish to stop the disaster spreading
              further up the food chain. 

              Hunters are trying to keep larger
              animals away, but they have already
              found dead foxes and otters. 

              Environmentalists are particularly
              worried about the threat to five pairs
              of very rare osprey. One has already
              died from eating toxic fish and
              another is sick. 

              Click here for map 

              There are also fears that if the
              poisoned water filters into the soil it
              could affect grass, grain and
              livestock. 

              But Tom Popper of the of the
              Regional Environmental Centre, based
              in Hungary, warned that cyanide was
              not the only danger. 

              Heavy metals were probably also
              washed into the river. These take
              much longer to disappear and could
              enter the water table. 

              ''In terms of
              complete
              destruction to one
              ecosystem this is
              probably worse
              than Chernobyl.
              The damage to
              nature has been
              horrible and the
              threat to humans
              could persist,'' Mr
              Popper added. 

              The pollution has now reached
              Yugoslavia, which is already under
              severe ecological strain following last
              year's Nato strikes on oil refineries. 

              About 80% of life in the Serbian
              section of the Tisza has reportedly
              been killed off. 

              The cyanide entered the Danube at
              the weekend, but scientists say it
              has now been diluted to within safe
              limits. 

              Mourning 

              Hungarians have been devastated by
              the catastrophe. 

              They fondly call the Tisza ''the blonde
              river'' because of its sandy
              appearance, and consider it cleaner
              and prettier than its more famous
              sister the Danube into which it flows.


              Mr Feiler said people had been in
              tears as they cleared up. 

              ''It's just terrible seeing these huge
              fish in agony,'' he added. ''It's so
              shocking seeing this mass extinction
              on the top of the water. 

              ''We use this river to fish and swim
              and now it's a danger in the middle of
              our towns. People are very emotional
              about it. We've never had anything
              like this.'' 

              When a person
              drowns in
              Hungary, the
              locals throw
              flowers into the
              water and light
              candles along the
              banks. This week
              it is the Tisza
              itself they have
              been mourning. 

              A black flag has
              been raised at the
              city hall in Szeged where residents
              have held candle-lit vigils and
              dropped flowers off the bridges. 

              The scenes have been similar in
              Szolnok to the north, where the
              mayor Ferenc Szalay has estimated
              the cost of the disaster will run into
              billions of dollars. 

              Hungary and Serbia are both
              demanding compensation. 

              'Madness' 

              The accident happened when a
              reservoir used for processing gold
              overflowed a dam at the Aural gold
              and silver mine, in Baia Mare. 

              Australia's Esmerelda Exploration,
              which runs Aural as a joint venture
              with the Romanian Government, has
              blamed the flooding on excessive
              snow falls. 

              Esmerelda, which
              owns 50% of the
              mine, was
              suspended from
              trading on the
              Australian share
              market last week. 

              But Esmerelda's
              chairman Brett
              Montgomery says
              the reports of
              damage have been
              ''grossly
              exaggerated''. 

              The mine operators have suggested
              the fish could be dying from depleted
              oxygen levels which can happen when
              rivers freeze over or flood. 

              But Hungarian officials say it is
              ''madness'' to store cyanide so close
              to a river and that the weather, while
              unusual, was not unprecedented. 

              ''We know enough about fish to know
              they're not dying from the cold,'' Mr
              Feiler snapped. 







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                                                      See also:


                                                        14 Feb 00 |  Europe 

                                                        Romania cautious
                                                        on cyanide risk 


                                                        10 Feb 00 |  Europe 

                                                        Cyanide spill
                                                        wreaks havoc 


                                                        11 Feb 00 |  Media reports 

                                                        Hungary's shock at
                                                        cyanide disaster 





                                                      Internet links:


                                                        Tisza Disaster 


                                                        The Upper Tisza -
                                                        a rare ecosystem 


                                                        Yugoslav
                                                        Government 


                                                        Esmerelda
                                                        Exploration 


                                                        Romanian
                                                        Government 


                                                        Hungarian Prime
                                                        Minister's Office 


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                                                      internet sites


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