Mining Communities Between Decline and Sustainability. Case Study: Nucet (Bihor County, România)
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Recent Researches in Mechanics Mining Communities between Decline and Sustainability. Case Study: Nucet (Bihor County, România) LUMINITA FILIMON, PAUL OLAU, VALENTIN NEMES Department of Geography, Tourism and Territorial Planning, Center for Territorial Studies and Analysis University of Oradea 13 Universitatii str., Oradea, jud. Bihor ROMANIA, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], http://istgeorelint.uoradea.ro Abstract: One of the major challenges in territorial planning, in general, and in post-communist Romania, in particular, is reconversion towards a balanced development of the mono-industrial areas whose decline brings a complex and progressive deterioration of the affected area, in several ways (economic, social, environment quality). These sectorial mutations result into an overall reduction of life quality and the change of the respective area from vulnerable to repellent, communities being, thus, dissolved. Among these, the mining areas in which the exploitation activity has been reduced or even totally stopped, represent some of the most vulnerable areas where inhabitants are deeply affected, and the territorial communities need support in their effort to find alternatives of sustainable territorial development. The actual state of these communities is the result of the failure of centralized planning which aimed at the achievement of short and medium term purposes, by strainedly supporting the explosive development of these areas for the period in which the soil resources had been intensively exploited, without a prospective thinking and without a strategic planning which, after the exhaustion of the respective resources, should have at least ensured the continuity of those communities. Thus, their balanced and sustainable development remains an almost impossible achievement. We consider that their need of support in the process of economic reconversion and reconstruction of a new identity for a balanced territorial development is the moral duty of the authorities as the decisions which had led to this decline were taken by an authority outside the respective community. Without any external intervention to reconvert and straighten the economy, the result is the progressive dissolution of the settlements, their viability and even their future existence is uncertain. Key-Words: Declining minning communities, economical reconversion, local development, sustainability 1 Introduction The town of Nucet is one of the 186 Romanian mining national concern. All decisions of exploitation and communities (HG.1005/2000). Declared town in 1956, closing of exploitation were made at a national level, Nucet is situated on BăiŃei valley, south of Beiuşului without the involvement of the local territorial Land, at the foot of Bihor Mountains, at approximately communities. Miners communities, from generation to 90 km from Oradea, on the regional road which connects generation, i.e. these three localities go through a period the Crişului Negru Couloir to MoŃilor Land and of profound decline as a result of losing their identity Arieşului valley, over the Vârtop pass (DN 75). due to the closing of mining activity, the secular The town built from scratch in four years as a dormitory occupational constancy of a community which does not town and a social-cultural center for miners has two have too many other options because of the restrictive localities administratively dependent, where the actual environment. exploitation was concentrated: BăiŃa and BăiŃa Plai. The remnant urban structure from communist era, sign of a policy of mandatory urbanization, at present not having 2 Methodology an actual urban functionality, the town of Nucet belongs This study intends to analyze the mining community in to the category of very small towns with a population of Nucet, Bihor county, from a past perpective and chances 1700 inhabitants, whereas the component localities, of a future becoming. The work plan comprises three BăiŃa şi BăiŃa Plai have 598 and, respectively, 99 parts: one referring to mineral resources, mining inhabitants. The establishment and the subsequent tradition of this area and the evolution of the community evolution of these localities have always been dependent until the fall of communism, another part referring to the on the exploitation of the mineral resources in this area, analysis of actual situation, result of the social-economic especially uranium which was considered a strategic mutations subsequent to the fall of communism (an ISBN: 978-1-61804-020-6 310 Recent Researches in Mechanics Figure 1. Geographical position of Nucet aging population, poor infrastructure, falling economy, activities have came to bismuth and molybdenum unemployment) and a third part, prospective which tries exploitation during the World War II and in the '50s. to predict the future of this community. The origin of mineral resources is closely linked to the The working method is mainly the diagnosis analysis, geological past of this area. The most important ones are which uses economic, demographic, social and those in the area of BăiŃa, represented by metallic infrastructure indicators. Proposals of development are mineralizations. The area of BăiŃa is considered by based on the concepts of sustainable development, Stoici, S.D. (1982) a real natural mineralogical museum. endogenous development and industrial culture. Oficial papers mention in BăiŃa, Bihor, between 1700 and 1750, exploitation of copperish ore, gold, silver, copper, lead and iron, mines being the main source of 3 Soil resources and mining tradition income for the inhabitants from the neighboring villages. Starting with the World War I, the extraction in the Southern Beiuş area of bismuth and molybdenum, used to obtain special The economic component of a community planned by steel, intensified. After the war the mine was closed to the Centre (the case of communist Romania) is one of be re-open in 1935, functioning at low activity until the the most powerful when it comes to changes of space, nationalization process in 1949 when it was taken over by determining forced mutations in the social- by the Iron Office. professional structure and the traditional lifestyle of the The process of mandatory industrialization, an exponent inhabitants and unbalancing the territory, sometimes of communist policies of development, represented for with bad consequences on the quality of the Romania an overall brutal intervention from outside environment. In most cases, the major features of the which triggered irreversible changes by the discovery of economic component are determined by the soil uranium at BăiŃa. The uranium resources found in BăiŃa resources which constitute one of the most important were discovered by German specialists at the end of the factors of influence on the economic evolution of every World War II, but because of war turn, the maps ended area. The presence of mineral resources in the up in the hands of the Soviets (Simedre, 2003). administrative territory, especially uranium, meant, Apparently, in BăiŃa they found the biggest uranium consecutively, the chance for an explosive evolution resources at surface in the world (www.cnu.ro). In and, subsequently, the decline and then total collapse of 1949, USSR (Russian Union) prospected the area and these communities. For the population in the area Nucet- immediately opened the mine in 1950. The actual BăiŃa, the early discovery of mineral resources in BăiŃa exploitation began in 1952 through a joint Romanian- triggered the establishment of mining as the main Sovietic company called Sovrom-KvarŃit. In 1952 were occupation of the inhabitants for ages. BăiŃa and Vaşcău discovered the resources in Avram Iancu mine whose were among the eight centers where gold was extracted exploitation began in 1962. The ore was sorted based on in the Apuseni Mountains in the DacianRoman era uranium component and shipped to Ştei by train on the (Giurescu, 1974, by łucra, 2000). From exploitation of narrow railroad or by lorries on BăiŃa-Ştei road, gold and silver in the DacianRoman the mining subsequently being shipped to USSR, at a rate of two ISBN: 978-1-61804-020-6 311 Recent Researches in Mechanics or three trains a day. The ore with the highest diminished their activity, social consequences being component of uranium was immediately shipped to severe. Thus, the former Mining Enterprise, from 5500 USSR by plane, for this particular reason an airport was employees in 1990 decreased to 1900 in 1995 and only built on Dumbrava hill, between Ştei and Seghişte. The 450 in 2000, the numbers diminishing even more over Russians' interest for the uranium mine turned it the following years. Even under these circumstances, between 19571958 into one of the heaviest mining is still the main activity of the inhabitants, exploitation in the world (Simedre, 2003). although the number of employees in this field is very The changes triggered by exploitation of uranium in the low. At present in Nucet there are only three mining area of Beiuş were numerous and fast. The most enterprises: SC Uranium National Company, SC BAITA important one was the manpower which was established SA and SC BAITA BIHOR SA. in the newly built towns Dr. Petru Groza (nowadays As a consequence of gradual exhaustion of existing called Ştei) and Nucet (dormitory town for miners, uranium resources and reduction of funds for geological built from scratch). For the surveillance of uranium, prospection, in 2007 at Avram Iancu Mine there were soldiers and Soviet specialists were brought for whom a only 130 employees, the company being on the verge of neighbourhood was built. Beside them, there were exhausting the uranium resources and starting the 17.000 Romanian workers. For example, the population procedure of closing, conservation and environment of Nucet increased between 19481956 from 772 to cleaning (www.cnu.ro). In fact, at present, there is a 9879 inhabitants, in 1966 (after the Russians had left) sector of exploitation and one which started the there were left only 2768, and in Ştei from 545 procedure of closing, conservation and environment inhabitants in 1948 to 5874 inhabitants in 1956. The cleaning. Archives of Mining Exploitation Bihor confirm a S.C.