Send a petition to the president and vice-president of the Industry Commission and ask them to finalize the report on the cyanide ban so that it will be voted in the Parliament.
Dear Mr. President Iulian Iancu, iulian.iancu@cdep.ro
Dear Mr. Vicepresident Mircea Ciopraga, mciopraga@cdep.ro
Last year two Romanian Senators, Gheorghe Funar (PRM) and Peter Eckstein Kovacs (UDMR), initiated a legislative proposal to ban cyanide in mining on Romanian territory. The proposal is to change Article 4 of Romania’s Mining Law. In 2000, the most tragic cyanide spill in history took place at the Aurul mine at the town of Baia Mare, Romania. This accident is today remembered as ‘the Aquatic Chernobyl’ because it caused the death of thousands tones of fish along the Tisza and Danube rivers due to a dam failure at the above mentioned gold processing plant. On a global level more than 25 serious cyanide spills occurred between 1998 and 2006; all of which damaged natural ecosystems and threatened human lives.
The legislative proposal to ban cyanide in mining in Romania ( Pl-x no. 429/2007), has for some time now been with the Industry Commission of the parliamentary Chamber of Deputies, which in return seems to prolong the decision making process in order to avoid taking a decision. The latest deadline for submitting it’s the report has now been tabled for 15th February 2008. After the report of the Commission over which you are presiding has been voted upon, the legislative proposal will be voted in the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies. This letter is to encourage you and your commission to no longer abstain from discussing this important initiative and to bear in mind that a law to ban cyanide in mining is willed by a significant proportion of Romanians; as can be seen from the petition on www.faracianura.ro In Romania, cyanide was used by three mining companies. All of them are now closed. A ban of the use of cyanide in mining would therefore not have negative social and economic consequences to the state. On a parallel level, at the European and international level there still exist no regulations to prevent accidents similar to the one at Baia Mare eight years ago. Bearing in mind that eight years have passed since the tragic Baia Mare cyanide spill and that at the same time Romania is currently faced with large scale and private cyanide mine developments, now is a crucial time to discuss the proposal at the Industry Commission and for parliament to vote upon it.
It is with great concern that I have read in a recent article published in “Academia Catavencu” that the discussion around the cyanide ban proposal is intentionally delayed by the commission over which you preside. Whilst this runs against your mandate; those who have mandated you have a constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment. I am therefore encouraging you and your commission to discuss the legislative proposal at the very inception of the parliamentary session and rest assured that your commission will endorse a proposal to ban cyanide in mining to safeguard human health and the environment; this for both the present as well as future generations. Life is more precious than gold!
Yours sincerely,