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12 Colo. J. Int'l Envtl. L. & Pol'y 367 (2001)
The Role of International Environmental Law in the Protection of the Danube River Basin: The Baia Mare Cyanide Spill

handle is hein.journals/colenvlp12 and id is 381 raw text is: The Role of International Environmental Law in the Protection of the Danube River Basin: The Baia Mare Cyanide Spill Chris Hudson I. INTRODUCTION The mining industry generates vast amounts of potentially hazardous wastes which, if improperly managed, may cause environmental disaster. The recent cyanide spill at the S.C. Aurul mine in Romania brought this risk into the international spotlight. On January 30, 2000, an estimated 100,000 cubic meters of cyanide-laced water spilled into three Balkan rivers and the Danube when a S.C. Aurul tailings pond dam broke in Baia Mare, Romania. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) joint Assessment Mission Report, the spill affected approximately 2,000 kilometers of the Danube watershed.1 The pollutants entered the Sasar River near Baia Mare, flowed into the Lapus River, and then entered the Somes River which crosses the border into Hungary.2 In Hungary, the pollutants emptied into the Tisza River, which flows south through Hungary into the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). Eventually, the pollutants emptied into the Danube River above Belgrade. From that point, the pollutants traveled another 1. See United Nations Environment Program, Cyanide Spill at Baia Mare Romania UNEP/OCHA Assessment Mission (March 2000), available at <www.unep.ch/roe/baiamare.htm> [hereinafter UNEP/OCHA Assessment Mission]. 2. See id. at 16. 3. See id.

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