AP-NY-03-11-00

Romanian Threatens Mining Companies By ALISON MUTLER, Associated Press Writer

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) -- Romania's environment minister Saturday threatened to close mining companies that do not respect the government's safety regulations, a day after 20,000 tons of heavy metal escaped from a zinc and lead mine in northwestern Romania.

The latest accident, which came six weeks after a deadly cyanide spill, occurred Friday when melting snow and torrential rains broke a dam at the state-owned Baia Borsa mine, 235 miles northwest of Bucharest, sending a wave of zinc and lead-laden waters into Vaser River.

There were no immediate reports of dead fish, and water samples were being measured every two hours, Romanian state radio reported. The worst floods in 30 years inundated the northwest region, making work difficult.

''The mining companies didn't take into account the regulations we made,'' said Romica Tomescu, the environment minister. ''We will move to close companies which do not comply with (our) regulations for safe exploitation.''

At the mine, some 50 workers were mending the 75-foot-wide, 35-foot-high hole that formed in the dam. The governor of Maramures county, Gheorghe Barlea, said the 2,400 employees at the zinc and lead mine could lose their jobs if the company cannot come up with another containment dam.

The government reported that waters in the Vaser, Viseu and the Romanian section of the Tisza rivers had dangerous levels of zinc, iron and lead.

Speaking at noon Saturday, Tomescu said that heavy metal levels on the Romanian section of the Tisza had substantially fallen. Earlier, zinc was nine times higher than allowable levels and lead was almost twice the acceptable limit, he said.

The Tisza forms a short section of the Romanian-Ukrainan border and then enters Hungary and Yugoslavia before flowing into the Danube, a major European waterway.

The pollutants reached Hungarian territory Saturday in the early evening hours, Hungarian state radio reported.

Hinting Hungary might sue Romania, Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban said: ''Hungary will have to resort to legal action'' if similar damage cannot be avoided in future.

The latest spill came six weeks after tons of cyanide-laden waters spilled into a creek from the Aurul gold mine, 60 miles west of Baia Borsa.

The cyanide flowed into three Balkan rivers and the Danube, killing fish and other wildlife and temporarily poisoning water supplies for river communities.

Janos Goenczy, a Hungarian government official said the latest pollution was especially worrisome because parts of the Tisza which had not been tainted by the cyanide pollution were now under threat of heavy metal contamination.

''The presence of heavy metals means it is a very insidious sort of pollution, which can cause serious organic changes,'' Goenczy said.

Andrei Svoronos, head of Romania's Danube Delta natural reserve, said he believed that the ore would not flow as far as the cyanide because it would settle into the river beds.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 11, 2000