The Baia Mare/Nagybánya cyanide spill and the subsequent Baia Borsa heavy-metal releases drew sustained international press coverage throughout 2000. The campaign site maintained by supporters of the “Save Our Rivers” effort tracked reporting from outlets including CNN, the Hungarian wire service MTI, the UK’s Daily Telegraph, and various environmental news services, alongside statements from WWF, the European Commission’s environment office, and UN-commissioned reports on the causes of the spills.

Recurring press themes included: the scale of the ecological damage (compared repeatedly to Chernobyl), the responsibility of the Australian-Romanian mining operators (Esmeralda Exploration/Aurul), the subsequent bankruptcy proceedings and international legal claims against the mining company, and the broader question of Romania’s environmental regulation as it pursued EU membership.