Toxic Europe
Launched May 2, 2011
On October 4, 2010, a tsunami of sludge engulfed residences and farmland in landlocked Hungary. An estimated one million cubic feet of red mud, a by-product of the refining of bauxite into alumina, the basic material for manufacturing aluminum, spilled from a broken dam at the Ajkai Alumina refinery, about 160 miles southwest of Budapest. It was one of the worst environmental disasters in recent European history. The toxic waste, containing heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, arsenic and chromium, killed 10 people, injured more than a hundred, and heavily damaged waterways and soils.
Meanwhile, in the Rosia Montana region of neighboring Romania, plans are underway to open the biggest open-pit gold and silver mine in Europe. Although mining has been endemic to the region for millennia (it bankrolled the extravagancy of the Roman Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire), the new industrial extraction of gold threatens to turn the whole place into a wasteland within a couple of years. Should the project receive authorization, the mountains of Rosia Montana will be carved into four enormous mining pits and the nearby valley will be transformed into a dam holding 250 million metric tons of cyanide-laced tailings behind an 600-foot wall made of waste rock-an enormous environmental liability in case of design failure.
The disaster at the aluminum refinery in Hungary and the proposed gold mine in Romania are not isolated instances environmental hazards in the region. South of Romania, in neighboring Bulgaria, the gold rush is in full swing too. A Canadian mining company is pushing for a giant open pit near the town of Krumovgrad, in the bucolic Rhodope Mountains. The majority of local citizens, most of them Bulgarian Turks, are desperately fighting against the project, fearing that contamination of their agricultural lands would destroy the nearby waterways and the traditional tobacco-growing industry. Their fear is not unsubstantiated: the same company is currently exploiting another gold mine, near the Bulgarian town of Chelopech, where large quantities of arsenic have poisoned the soil and rivers and have led to serious health-problems among the population. Despite the European Union’s reputation for high environmental standards, the truth is that regulation in the new member states is still very difficult to enforce. This project wades through some of the hidden waste.
Grantee
Dimiter Kenarov is a freelance journalist based in Sofia, Bulgaria, and a contributing editor at The Virginia Quarterly Review. His work has appeared/is forthcoming in Esquire, Outside,...
Grantee
After she received her first camera at age 15, Nadia Shira Cohen began exploring and documenting the world around her. She continued to pursue her passion for photography at the University of...
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The Romanian government is eager for investment from international mining companies, but local residents in a historic mining town fear an environmental disaster.
In the months after toxic sludge flooded residential areas and farmland in Hungary, some local residents still suffer from environmental and health problems while others have found new opportunities.
Zulbie Ahmed, modern-minded mayor of Ovchari, takes a strong stand against a modern mining company—she confronts the managers of Dundee Precious Metals and consistently votes against their plans.
Author and beekeeper Ismail Yakup says the Bulgarian government is ignoring the voice of the Krumovgrad community by supporting an open-pit gold mine that will pollute the soil, water, and air.
Dimiter Kenarov looks at the lives of the people from the Krumovgrad region as they deal with the large-scale mining project that is threatening to destroy their most precious resources.
In the cafes of Krumovgrad, Bulgaria, young and old debate the proposed opening of a large open-pit gold mine by a Canadian company, a project that could increase jobs—but also contaminate the water.
The Bulgarian government says gold mining will bring jobs and wealth to the impoverished town of Krumovgrad. But local residents fear the project might pollute their real treasure: water.
Remus Cenusa is one of the last 40 residents in a Romanian village who is refusing a resettlement offer from Rosia Montana Gold Corporation. The beekeeper wants to remain under the buzz of his bees.
An ancient Romanian mining town is wary of losing its historical roots to a large-scale open pit mine.
Eugen David, a farmer in Rosia Montana, refuses to sell out to corporate interests who want to build the world's largest open-pit gold mine on his land.
The Romanian government is eager for investment from international mining companies, but local residents in a historic mining town fear an environmental disaster.
In the months after toxic sludge flooded residential areas and farmland in Hungary, some local residents still suffer from environmental and health problems while others have found new opportunities.
Zulbie Ahmed, modern-minded mayor of Ovchari, takes a strong stand against a modern mining company—she confronts the managers of Dundee Precious Metals and consistently votes against their plans.
Author and beekeeper Ismail Yakup says the Bulgarian government is ignoring the voice of the Krumovgrad community by supporting an open-pit gold mine that will pollute the soil, water, and air.
In the cafes of Krumovgrad, Bulgaria, young and old debate the proposed opening of a large open-pit gold mine by a Canadian company, a project that could increase jobs—but also contaminate the water.
The Bulgarian government says gold mining will bring jobs and wealth to the impoverished town of Krumovgrad. But local residents fear the project might pollute their real treasure: water.
Remus Cenusa is one of the last 40 residents in a Romanian village who is refusing a resettlement offer from Rosia Montana Gold Corporation. The beekeeper wants to remain under the buzz of his bees.
An ancient Romanian mining town is wary of losing its historical roots to a large-scale open pit mine.
Eugen David, a farmer in Rosia Montana, refuses to sell out to corporate interests who want to build the world's largest open-pit gold mine on his land.
In Romania, the Rosia Montana Gold Corporation plans to begin a large-scale mining operation. The operation will likely mean the end of the Transylvanian town that has occupied this site for...
Rosia Montana has a long tradition of mining that stretches back more than 2,000 years, but a new open-pit gold mining site would destroy original mining tunnels and limit archaeological research.
Last year a reservoir at the Ajka Alumina plant in Hungary collapsed, releasing toxic mud into the surrounding area. Now, 8 months later, those affected by the accident are still rebuilding.
The Romanian government is eager for investment from international mining companies, but local residents in a historic mining town fear an environmental disaster.
In the months after toxic sludge flooded residential areas and farmland in Hungary, some local residents still suffer from environmental and health problems while others have found new opportunities.
Zulbie Ahmed, modern-minded mayor of Ovchari, takes a strong stand against a modern mining company—she confronts the managers of Dundee Precious Metals and consistently votes against their plans.
Author and beekeeper Ismail Yakup says the Bulgarian government is ignoring the voice of the Krumovgrad community by supporting an open-pit gold mine that will pollute the soil, water, and air.
Dimiter Kenarov looks at the lives of the people from the Krumovgrad region as they deal with the large-scale mining project that is threatening to destroy their most precious resources.
On Oct. 4, 2010, the northwest corner of the dam at the No. 10 reservoir of the Ajka alumina plant collapsed, flooding the nearby towns of Kolontar and Devecser with 35 million cubic feet of red mud...
More than 350 homes were damaged in the 2010 Ajka Alumina plant disaster. Eight months later, the victims are still struggling to start new lives.
Remus Cenusa is one of the last 40 residents in a Romanian village who is refusing a resettlement offer from Rosia Montana Gold Corporation. The beekeeper wants to remain under the buzz of his bees.