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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
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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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