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Press Release: (TSX:GBU) Dead and Buried: Gabriel's EIA Rosia Montana - 27.03.2008 21:49
(Canadian mining company wishes to destroy 1800 years old town Rosia Montana to open a cyanide open-pit gold mine. Government is complicit.) >========================================================== > >*Independent Centre for the Development of Environmental Resources >Alburnus Maior >Press Release* >/*For immediate distribution*/ > >/*Dead and Buried: Gabriel's EIA*/ >/Irrevocable court verdict on the urbanistic certificate of the Rosia >Montana proposal / > >/Cluj-Napoca /Romania; 27 March 2008 /* The Cluj Court of Appeal (1) >today irrevocably rejected an appeal formulated by the Alba County >Council and Rosia Montana Gold Corporation against the Cluj-Napoca >Tribunal court verdict^ (2) to annul Urbanistic Certificate No. 78/ >26.04.2006^ (3). The certificate had been granted by the Alba County >Council to Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC) to continue the >Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure. The court action was >initiated by the *Independent Centre for the Development of >Environmental Resources (ICDER)*^* * (4). Alburnus Maior intervened in >the case. > >Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC) is 80% owned by Gabriel Resources >(TSX:GBU) a small under-resourced and inexperienced Canadian mining >company which plans to uproot the people of Rosia Montana to realize >Europe's largest open-cast gold mine. 20% are owned by Minvest a >state-owned mining company. From its' onset the venture has been >beleaguered by scandals operational problems and vehement local >national and international opposition. The American miner Newmont (NTSE: >NEM) holds a 20% stake in Gabriel Resources. > >Urbanistic Certificate No 78/2006 was obtained by RMGC from the Alba >County Council in April 2006 to continue the EIA procedure for the Rosia >Montana mine proposal. It was issued to RMGC despite the fact that the >previous urbanistic certificate (numbered Nr. 68/2004) was and still is >suspended by an irrevocable court decision. With the submission of act >No. 78/2006 to the Ministry for the Environment RMGC was able to carry >out the EIA's public consultation stage as well as a significant part of >the stage to evaluate the quality of the EIA study. RMGC also used the >act to start other licensing procedures such as the dam safety permit >and the land use change permits including the Modification of the Zonal >Urbanism Plan for the RMGC Industrial Development area; etc. > >Urbanistic Certificate No 78/2006 was suspended by the Cluj Tribunal on >20 July 2007 (5) ^ and annulled by the same court on 11 November 2007. >Following the suspension of this act the Ministry for the Environment >suspended the EIA procedure for the mine proposal and assessed that any >urbanistic certificate issued by the Alba County Council duplicating >this act is suspended/ de jure/. > >In the case leading to the irrevocable annulment of the act ICDER and >Alburnus Maior successfully proved amongst others; that the act does not >list the full inventory of natural and historic protected areas >including their buffer zones; that it does not contain all industrial >facilities for which RMGC wishes to obtain the construction permit (such >as the tailings management facility) and that Rosia Montana's urbanistic >plans which are based on certificate No 78/ 26.04.2006 were recently >declared illegal by the Alba-Iulia Court of Appeal (6). > >The annulment of this act via an irrevocable court decision removes the >legitimacy of all licensing procedures/procedural stages that are based >on Urbanistic Certificate No. 78/ 26.04.2006. Once in receipt of the >court verdict itself ICDER and Alburnus Maior will copy it to all >competent authorities in charge of licensing procedures for the Rosia >Montana mine proposal requesting these authorities to put an immediate >halt to these procedures and return all documentation to the project owner. > >\I am delighted that after the locals of Rosia Montana have been put >under pressure for so many years we were today able to prove again that >Gabriel Resources was wrong and civil society right. I hope that this >victory will inspire other communities across Romania to use >environmental law to defend our beautiful countryside and natural >heritage. In the words of famous American artist Andy Warhol \They >always say time changes things but you actually have to change them >yourself'' declared attorney Marius Liviu Harosa; representing ICDER. > >\Today's verdict confirms that the Ministry for the Environment was >correct to suspend the Rosia Montana EIA procedure. All the inaccurate >claims and pressure on the part of Gabriel Resources have once again got >them nowhere. The Ministry should now move to permanently cancel the >Rosia Montana EIA procedure' concludes Dan Mercea president of ICDER. > >* * * > >For more information contact attorney Marius Liviu Harosa on +40 (0) 744 >599 762 or ICDER on cidrm.cluj At gmail.com > >NOTES: > >1) File no 1245/117/2007 >2) File no 1245/117/2007 >3) The text can be accessed on > http://www.rosiamontana.ro/doc/certificatRMGC_78_2006.pdf >4) The Independent Centre for the Development of Environmental Resources >is an NGO based in Cluj-Napoca/Romania. It develops programs that >contribute to the protection of the right to a healthy environment and >foster the development of Romania's NGO sector. >5) The court decision can be accessed on > http://www.rosiamontana.ro/doc/incheiere_suspendare.pdf > >6) File no 1411/107/2007 of the Alba-Iulia court of appeal >
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