They will persist as poisons in the river, the soil, the groundwater, and the food chain for decades. The Baia Mare spill has been called the worst environmental disaster in Europe since Chernobyl. Cyanide water spilled into the Alamosa River system, killing everything in the water within 17 miles of the spill site. So it takes years, if not decades. But the process produces a highly-toxic waste, which is usually stored in containment ponds.
Experience shows that, over time, containment ponds can fail, and the results can be devastating.
The Baia Mare mine is operated jointly by the Romanian government and an Australian company, Esmeralda Exploration Ltd., and both claim the affects of the spill into the Tisa and Danube rivers have been exaggerated. The proposed Crown Jewel mine has survived a number of setbacks. Last March, the federal government ruled against it on the basis of the 1872 mining law that limits the per-acre amount of rock that can be dumped in the area surrounding a mine. In their ruling, the pollution board said that Battle Mountain Gold Inc. had not adequately provided for pollution control, and the mine would pull too much water from the overused creeks in the area. The struggle over the Crown Jewel mine, however, is not finished.