Activists storm minister's office over mine project
Tuesday 31 January 2012
Printable
EmailGreenpeace activists from across Europe stormed the office of Romania's environment minister today to protest against a Canadian firm's plan to build a gold mine in Transylvania.
About 30 protesters from Romania, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Germany and Italy occupied Laszlo Borbely's office for five hours and urged him not to grant an environmental permit for the mining project using cyanide extraction technology in the village of Rosia Montana.
Canada's Rosia Montana Gold Corporation insists that the project will bring hundreds of much-needed jobs and vital foreign investment to the area.
But Greenpeace contends that if the transnational gets its way 215 million tons of toxic sludge will be generated and stored in a valley without adequate safeguards to prevent environmental contamination.
Activist Irina Bandrabur predicted that the proposed mine would pollute not only the air but ground and surface waters.
Cyanide mining is banned in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Germany.
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