Background Note
UN emergency assistance assessment mission to Romania,
Hungary and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on the liquid and suspended
waste spill from the Baia Mare gold mine in Romania
Mission background
UNEP and OCHA upon formal request by the governments of the three
countries have set up an emergency assistance mission to provide an urgent,
independent scientific assessment by an international group of 15 scientists of
the environmental impacts of the recent
spill of liquid and suspended waste from the Romanian gold mine. The assessment is aimed
at supporting the provision of advice on response activities and better
accident prevention and preparedness and at making recommendations to the
international community on possible assistance. The mission is being led by the
Director of UNEP's Regional Office for Europe.
The
OCHA/UNEP response is also a contribution and input to the broader
framework and approach of the European Commission with regard to a longer-term
rehabilitation programme. The UN mission is carried out in cooperation with the
European Commission, UN/ECE, WHO and other relevant UN agencies and
international organizations, including the ICPDR.
The mission, which begins in Bucharest today with meetings with government officials, will travel on Saturday 26 February to the Baia Mare site in north-western Romania where the spill occurred on 30 January 2000. The mission is a rapid fact-finding and assessment mission comprising field visits to selected locations supplemented by meetings with relevant national authorities, experts, non-governmental groups and other representatives concerned.
Environmental impact of the spill
Due to heavy rainfall and snow combined with a rise in air temperature,
the thawing snow caused a rise of the waters of the AUREL gold plant dam used
for decanting the industrial waters with high cyanide concentration.
Reportedly, 100,000 cubic metres of contaminated water poured into the Lapus
River, and then into the Szamos river allowing the contamination to be released
to the regional system resulting in fish-kills and rendering water supplies for
many towns problematic.
No reports of human illness or deaths were reported but various references point to damages to flora and fauna in the affected areas. The Szamos River, one of the largest in Romania is also an important tributary to the Tisza River flowing through Hungary. The spill that polluted the Lapus and Szamos rivers in Romania, apart from affecting Hungary's second largest river, Tisza, continues to the Danube in Yugoslavia. Fish-kill has been observed along all contaminated parts of these rivers and fears are that benthic insects and micro-organisms have been affected as well.
UN mission's tasks
The mission's task is to provide a rapid, independent, scientific and
objective description of the spill, the situation and events causing it, from
its source in Baia Mare to the Danube delta. Collection and review of relevant
baseline data on the state of the environment and the water quality in affected
areas together with evaluation of available data on the effects of the spill on
ecosystems and water quality, will be carried out from the period immediately
after the incident up to the start of the UN assessment mission on Friday 25th
February.
Sampling at spots along the affected water courses will provide data to
the UN experts and will help in assessing recovery processes, including
planning of monitoring and means to facilitate the recovery and limit long-term
negative ecological, social and humanitarian effects.
The mission will also review the working of emergency warning systems,
including dam safety issues, with a view to improving prevention of and
preparedness to similar accidents, and also strengthen international response
mechanisms.
Finally, within the framework of the European Commission's established
Task Force's work, and other cooperative efforts, recommendations will be made
to the national authorities, including those on possible remedial actions and
the necessary programmes for damage assessment, rehabilitation and prevention.
UN mission's work
The international UN experts, divided into two teams, will start their
field assessment work on Saturday 26 February by visits to selected locations,
in Romania, Hungary and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, liaising closely
with the European Commission which is also represented on the mission in
Romania and Hungary.
Liaison with
the joint UNEP/UNCHS Balkans Task Force for work in the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia will also take place, taking into account the results of analyses
previously made by the Balkans Task Force on the basis of recent samplings in
parts of the river Danube in that country. Meetings and contacts throughout
will be held with national authorities, scientists, local communities and
non-governmental organizations, and with representatives of relevant
international organizations such as the Regional Environmental Center (REC),
the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) and
WWF.
Assessments, through the collection of samples of soil, tailings, water, groundwater, sediments and biota will be carried out between the 26th of February and the 5th of March. Analyses of samples will be performed on site by portable and mobile laboratories, which have been provided by the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Germany, and in other reliable laboratories in selected countries. Parallel work will include the collection and evaluation of available information related to the spill and the situation before the spill and consideration of data and analyses performed by respective national authorities.
A report
outlining conclusions and recommendations of the mission, will be made
available to the national authorities of the affected countries, the European
Commission, UNEP, OCHA, UNDP, UN/ECE, WHO and other relevant UN agencies,
ICPDR, WWF, IUCN and other relevant non-governmental organizations, and to
potential donors as appropriate. The report will become a public document.