The place where the contaminated water from the mine flows into Slaná River. (source: Judita Čermáková)
Three months have passed since fishermen first noticed that near an abandoned mine the Slaná River was the colour of rust. In some parts of the river, dozens of fish and crayfish have died due to the increase of iron, manganese, nickel, arsenic, sulphates and other substances.
The worst situation is near the mine, further down the stream the concentration of harmful substances decreases and even though the river is rust-coloured at the border with Hungary, these substances do not exceed the limits, measurements show.
The Sme daily found that the cause of the environmental catastrophe is mainly due to competence disputes of the authorities and their erroneous decisions.
It was supposed to take 20 years
The company Siderit mined siderite ore in Nižná Slaná for decades, until it went bankrupt due to insolvency in 2008. Three years later, they cut off electricity in the mine and stopped pumping water.
