Dilemmas of Underground Resources
Fierce debates around Romanias underground resources still hold the headlines, be they shale gas or gold exploitation using the cyanide-based technology.
România Internațional, 18.10.2013, 13:00
Romania’s underground resources, which were rather neglected after the fall of communism, during a transition that involved a progressive de-industrialization of the country, have started to make the headlines again. As the state hasn’t got the necessary funds, experts or equipment able to explore and exploit, many reserves have been concessioned to foreign companies. As the methods used by foreign companies often wound the sensibilities of either local communities or those of green organizations, many projects were delayed, blocked or cancelled. On Thursday, American giant Chevron suspended its activities temporarily in the village of Pungesti, in Vaslui County, in eastern Romania, after the locals protested virulently for four days straight against exploration and subsequently exploitation of shale gas. The local council voted unanimously to hold a referendum next month, in which locals can have their voice heard regarding the issue of shale gas being extracted in their villages. Expert studies claim that, once extracted, the shale gas on Romania’s territory could secure its energy independence for a century. Other experts, however, warn of the side effects of extraction, from serious pollution to small earthquakes.
The authorities are forced to tread a very fine line between the economic and ecological sides. Though generally sensitive to the pulse of the street, PM Victor Ponta said that the protests in the last few days have not made him change his mind. He says that Romania must be energy independent, at the risk of bothering some side or another:
‘There is a lot of disinformation, and obviously behind this disinformation there is a campaign, led by those who don’t want us to be independent, those who do not want us to develop as a country, those who don’t want us to have an industry in Romania. I believe that there are private interests out there that are against the country.’
Commentators claim that this is a veiled reference to Russian giant Gazprom, which is supposed to be behind the campaigns in the press and the street protests against shale gas drilling, in an attempt to maintain its near monopoly in supplying gas to Europe. At the same time, the authorities in Bucharest had to take a step back in the issue of gold and silver mining in Rosia Montana, in Alba County. The draft law introduced by the executive especially for these mineral resources, concessioned to the Canadian company Gabriel Resources, has undergone serious changes after being debated in a special committee in Parliament. Senators and deputies have also decided to turn the bill into a draft law to regulate gold and silver deposits all over the country. In Rosia Montana, Bucharest, and many cities at home and abroad, ample protests were held, mostly against the use of cyanide-based substances for extracting the gold. Thursday night, the Minister of Culture Daniel Barbu, one of the authors of the executive decision to authorize the procedure, had to be rescued by gendarmes when his car was surrounded by protesters.
