Untreated mine water spilled from the flooded shafts of a closed mine in Maramures, Romania caused metal contamination of the River Szamos flowing into NE Hungary.
The Maramures County branch of the Szamos-Tisza Water Directorate said that streams and rivers in the area flooded due to the heavy rainfall on Wednesday. As a result, in the area of Miszbánya near Baia Mare, the closed shafts of the Campurele mine were flooded, from which a significant amount of untreated mine water flowed into the Láposbánya stream. The pollution reached the Lápos River and then the Szamos through the stream.
The officer of the Maramures County branch of the water authority told the hungarian state news agency MTI on Thursday that the results of the laboratory analysis of the water samples taken on Wednesday are still awaited. Asked if the inflow of contaminated water had been stopped, they said that the inflow is not continuous, it only appears occasionally and for a short time.
The Campurele mine belongs to the Romanian state-owned company Conversmin, the sole shareholder of which is the Bucharest Ministry of Economy. This company is responsible for closing and making environmentally friendly the mines in Romania where extraction has been suspended or discontinued.
The Hungarian National Directorate General for Disaster Management (OKF) informed MTI that the concentrations of dissolved zinc, copper, aluminum and iron in the water samples taken from the Szamos at Csenger on Thursday at two o'clock in the morning were also above the limit value.
Top 5 Articles
Duna House Profit Climbs Nearly 70% in Q3 November 24, 2025 
'Recharge' Campaign Launched to Boost Domestic Tourism January 21, 2026 
Richter Earnings Slip as Financial Loss Weighs November 6, 2025 
Genius Automotive Hungarian Subsidiary's CEE Expansion November 2, 2025 
Asiana Airlines to Launch Direct Seoul-Budapest Flight October 31, 2025
