MRF > Environment > Incidents > Baia Mare

Tailings Spill Accident in Baia Borsa, Romania, 10 March 2000

On 10 March 2000 torrential rains (37 litres per square metre according to a local weather station) and melting snow from the slopes surrounding the Novat artificial reservoir at a mine in Baia Borsa, Romania, led to an unmanageable rise in the reservoir's water level.

At about 11 a.m. on 10 March, approximately 20,000 tons of mineral waste was flushed into the Viseu River from the decantation reservoir of the Baia Borsa Preparation Enterprise mine. The waste been stored following the processing of complex ores of lead, copper and zinc. The Enterprise is the local branch of the state-coordinated company Remin S.A. – Baia Mare. The accident led to pollution of the River Vaser with minerals and possibly heavy metals. This river is a tributary of the River Tisza that flows through the Ukraine and enters Hungarian territory at the town of Tiszabecs.

For more details, please download the Assessment Mission to Hungary and Romania UNDAC Mission Report (PDF format, 527 KB)