Tisa River Dies

When on January 30 an accident occurred in the Rumanian gold mine in Baja Mare, and when it came out that a large amount of cyanide leaked into the local river Samos which was being used in the process of separating gold, Hungarians raised an alert because it was merely a matter of days when the wave of polluted water would reach the Tisa River.  The concentration of cyanide in 10,000 cubic liters of water, is two hundred times higher than that permitted in one liter, and was far too high for anyone to harbor illusions about the cyanide being diluted in the Samos prior to entering the River Tisa.  However, what did happen outstripped the grimmest predictions.  This was an assassination of one of the most beautiful Rivers in the part of Europe.

In the beginning of February, Hungarians raised everyone, from responsible ministries to local officials.  Pictures reached the world of enormous quantities of fish floating on the surface of the river in agony.  Nearly all water works of the cities along the Tisa river take their water from the River, and what the Rumanians called an ecological incident, the Hungarians dubbed an ecological catastrophe.

CNN made sure that the local ecological problem becomes a global one.  At the beginning of this week, nearly two weeks following the accident in the mine in Baja Mare, the story of the assassination of the River Tisa has become a top story.  The European Committee also spoke out in expressing readiness "to assess the extent of the disaster," with the comment "that there is discussion on whether urgent aid should be sent out in order to diminish the proportions of the catastrophe."  The Australian multinational company Esmeralda, a majority owner in the Rumanian mine, has also been called to answer.

"It has not been proven that we are the source of the pollution in the River Tisa," stated Bret Montgomery, President of Esmeralda, in an interview for CNN, speaking in a cold voice and constantly using the expression "ecological incident."

UNINTERESTED GOVERNMENT: After the initial news about the mass murder of fish in the Hungarian part of the River Tisa and about the wave of poison which will inevitably reach our country, journalists in Belgrade tried in vain to get any kind of information from responsible officials as to whether any measure are being taken to meet the catastrophe head on.  On February 3 the Ministry for the Protection of the Environment announced that this issue is not under its jurisdiction, and directed all interested parties to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Waterworks.  There, again there was a wall of silence with directions toward the Hydrometerological Institute and the public company Serbiavode.

"We are regularly monitoring the quality of the water in the River Tisa at the point it enters our country, and thus far we have no information indicating the presence of cyanide," journalists were informed at that point by by Hydrometerological Institute.

And while the cyanide was leaving desolation in its wake, and the Tisa was taking the poison toward Szegedin and our country, the Serbian Government was in session and concluded that all those affected by beneath-ground water in Vojvodina will be offered favorable credits for dealing with the damage they suffered.  But the official statement from the Government session did not even mention a single word about the coming danger.

"All rivers are under the jurisdiction of republican and regional public companies," stated Attila Juhas.  "In other words, here in Senta we did not measure the pollution, and we did not get any information from officials regarding the cyanide concentrations in the River Tisa.  The latest information we have is from Hungary in Szegedin (February 11)."
And then in the night between Friday and Saturday (February 12), the wave of poison reached us.  People who were on call on the River that night were aghast at the sight of dead fish floating on the surface of the River, with everyone mentioning the smell of bitter almonds in the air.  In the morning dead birds could also be seen, having either drunk the polluted water from the river or eaten the dead fish.

Just during the first night and morning, 600 kilograms of fish were taken out of the Tisa near Senta.  At the end of the day, that figure reached a ton, and by Wednesday, when this article is being written, a ton of dead fish was taken out of the Tisa near Kanjiza, one and a half ton of dead fish was taken both at Senta and at Becej, near Ada, three tons of dead fish were taken out, while seven tons were taken out near Titel.

CALMING STATEMENTS: The Diplomatic Attache of the Rumanian Embassy in Belgrade was called into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he was given a note regarding the pollution of the river that mentions "the grave consequences this produced in the FRY, by destroying the entire fish population and the fauna in the Tisa River, as well as threatening the settlements next on the River banks."  All that remains is to wonder whether the Ministry of Foreign Affairs got their phrasing of the note from the Ministry of Agriculture people, or from the Ministry for the Protection of the Environment.  At the time that the Rumanian diplomat was being served this note, the public had still not been informed of the extent of the damage.

When the poisoned water from the Tisa flowed into the Danube two days ago, responsible officials continued with calming statements regarding the fact that "cyanide concentrations are not above normal."  But the public, especially in Belgrade, was fairly disturbed by the news that the water works in Vinca were closed off as a matter of precaution.

Professor Dragan Joksovic, Chief of the National Center for Poisoning with the Military Medical Academy in Belgarde, told us that he does not have information about what cyanide is at issue.

"The greatest danger is around the Tisa River, therefore wells located close to the River," he states.  "I don't think that this is a greater ecological disaster than the one caused by the NATO bombing.  This was an acute accident, while the bombing lasted for full three months.  At that time certain substances were also released into the river, but care was taken for poisoning not to occur.  Secondly, we don't know all the substances used in bombing us, although we do know that uranium and other cancer causing agents which could have horrible consequences were used.  Many of such substances were burnt and many of them were spilled into the ground or into our rivers.  There were not acute poisonings, but we cannot say what will be the long-term consequences on us or the world," Professor Joskovic concludes.

Two days ago the Serbian Minister for the Protection of the Environment, Ph.D. Branislav Blazic, held a press conference in which he stressed that "all institutions reacted in time to minimize the damage."  What damages were minimized remains only to be guessed at.  According to press reports, the Tisa river is "a completely dead river along 600 kilometers of its flow," with "the entire ecosystem of this River having been destroyed, which means that not only the fish were killed, but everything living in the river."
Whether it will be possible to swim in the Tisa River this summer is still not known.  It all depends on whether the water will managed to dilute the cyanide levels.  Fishermen on the Tisa River will drag nets through the River Bottom to catch the dead fish which still did not come to the surface and which might continue to release cyanide into the River.  They will try to clean the River which no longer holds anything for them.