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Hungary and the Tizsa River

Hungary and the Tizsa River. By Nathan Hamm. Hungary. Republic of Hungary Since 1989 Total area 93,030 sq km Total area with water 960 sq km Comparative size Indiana. Hungary vs. Indiana. The People. Population 10,032,375 Came from a lineage called Magyar. Land and water preservation.

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Hungary and the Tizsa River

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  1. Hungary and the Tizsa River By Nathan Hamm

  2. Hungary • Republic of Hungary Since 1989 • Total area 93,030 sq km • Total area with water 960 sq km • Comparative size Indiana

  3. Hungary vs. Indiana

  4. The People • Population 10,032,375 • Came from a lineage called Magyar

  5. Land and water preservation • Land is made arable only if it has a source of water that feeds it. • Water is the most important part of human life. • A human can survive for over a month without food but not much over three days without water. • When you “boil” all life and production down to its elements, water plays a dominant role.

  6. Life blood • Rivers have historically been a life blood to the land. • Important part of culture.

  7. Industry • Every agricultural and industrial economy needs water. • Mining uses large quantities of water. But usually the chemicals used in the process are kept in pond-like holding areas enclosed by earthen dams until they can be purified.

  8. Troubled Waters • Romania, Hungary, Serbia, and Bulgaria have recently suffered an environmental disaster that has been dubbed the “Aquatic Chernobyl”

  9. Background • City Baia Mare. • Mining facility called Aurul SA • Australian company “Esmeralda Exploration Limited”. • Romanian government has part ownership.

  10. Mining Area of Baia Mare • Chronic health problems. • Some live 50 meters from waste ponds. • World Health Organization labeled the area a hotspot even before the disaster. • In the area lead levels in adults are 2.5 times higher then the recommended safety levels.

  11. Factors • Day of January 30, 2000 • Snow thaw and heavy rains. • Human error. • Earthen dam breaks.

  12. Possible Human Factors • Romanian government had a “stake” in the company. • Nearly no inspections. • Relatively short expected period of operation. • Australian Company was not under Australian laws.

  13. The Disaster • 100,000 cubic meters (some say up to 180,00) of liquid spills into Sasar river. • 50 to 100 tons of cyanide is released along with large amount of copper and other heavy metals.

  14. The Path

  15. Rivers Sasar, to Lapus, to Somes, to the Hungarian part of the Tisza and Danube until it emptied into the Black Sea. • 2000 km of the Danube effected. • Affecting the water supply of 24 municipalities.

  16. Bozanta Mare well water supply for 2000 people tested over 60 times acceptable levels.

  17. Cyanide testing sites

  18. What is Cyanide? • Toxic class of compounds. • Used in gold mining to cause the precious metals gold and silver to “leach” out the ore. • Human beings and other life can stand only tiny amounts of it.

  19. Effects of Cyanide • Cyanide blocks ingestion of oxygen by cells. • Long term exposure causes convulsions and eventually death.

  20. Levels • Romanian waterways peaked at 19.16 milligrams/liter • Feb 1 Hungary reports at Szamos 32.6 mg/liter more than 300 times the accepted 0.1 mg/liter

  21. Aquatic Life • Fish are almost one thousand times more sensitive to cyanide then humans are. • Even from minimal exposure they suffer severely.

  22. Saving Grace? • Cyanide does decompose in sunlight. • There is some cyanide in nature b12 vitamin rich food have some in them.

  23. Specific Heavy Metals • Lead delays normal growth and increases blood pressure. • Copper causes intestinal distress, and liver damage.

  24. River Wasteland • The polluted water flowed through Hungary for 12 days. • Experts speculate a near total loss of all animal and plant live in the river. • Hundreds of tons of fish had to be disposed of from the river and its shores. • The Tisza River was a legendary fishing river; it was in literature and poems through out Hungary.

  25. More then just the river • Rare and unique fauna and flora in the Horto-bagy Marsh were endangered including five ospreys living in the Hortobagy National park. • Cyanide was the known cause of the demise of two bald eagles, one was paralyzed and one was found dead.

  26. Government Response • Romanian Principal International Alert Center (PIAC) notified the Hungarian PIAC on Jan 31 at 8:54 P.M. • Hungary was able to save some lakes and side streams. • Tension between Hungary and Romania increase (already high due to Hungarian minority in Transylvania. • Million are spent cleaning up the result.

  27. Esmeralda Exploration Limited • The spill cost it 350,000 dollars per week in lost revenue. • In June,the government of Hungary filed a $110 million lawsuit againstAustralian-based Esmeralda Explorations, Ltd.

  28. No End in Sights • The Tragedy of this spill has raised question about the use of Cyanide and possible safe alternatives. • Czech Republic banned use of cyanide “leaching” in all mining. • There has been several groups in the U.S.A. that have raised in debate over the continued use of Cyanide in Wisconsin, Montana, and Colorado. • If you would like to get in contact with one go to www.treatyland.com or www.nodirtygold.org or www.moles.org

  29. Bibliography of Information Textual information gathered from these sources • The Cyanide Spill at Baia Mare, Romania and other flyers and informational packages from http://www.rec.org/ • Information on the Hortobagy Marsh found in http://s.o.w.tripod.com/tiszariver.htm and http://www.calguard.ca.gov/ia/Transcarpathia/Floods%20-%20Cyanide%20in%20Tisza.htm • Facts on Cyanide can be found on http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts8.html • Technical information on the geography of Hungary located at www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook • Law suite information found on web sight http://s.o.w.tripod.com/tiszariver.htm

  30. Pictures of Hungary on pages 1-6 http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/ Picture of Indiana page 3 from http://www.inspire.net/indfacts.html Picture on Page 8 from http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/700/770/779/fahs/village/fahs.html Picture of Danube river from page 10 located atwww.world-ventures.com/ LC_River_Cruise_Danube Page 11,17,23,25,26,29,and 30 pictures come from http://journalism.uts.edu.au/miningoz_2004/DirtyGold/index.htm Page 13 picture is from http://www.donskiff.com/images/rain.jpg Picture on page 16 http://www.rec.org/ Picture on page 17 came from http://greenhorizon.rec.org/news.html Pictorial Bibliography

  31. Pictorial Bibliography Continued • Page 19-21 pictures from http://www.tisaforum.org.yu/arhiva/HUMoE/prel-eval.htm • Picture from Page 22 http://www.bigscrub.org.au/bs-images/cyanide.jpg • Page 27-28 pictures come from http://drake.marin.k12.ca.us/stuwork/rockwater/hev%20met/hevmet.html • Pictures on page 30 found on http://www.nps.gov/badl/exp/hortobagy.htm • Picture on page 31 http://www.deh.gov.au/industry/industry-performance/minerals/booklets/cyanide/baia-mare-cs.html

  32. Power Point Created by Nathan Hamm • UW Eau Claire student • E-mail: hammnb@uwec.edu • Presented in Geography 308 • Professor Zoltan Grossmann • Class: Geography of Russia and Eastern Europe • Semester Spring 2005

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