Toxic Cleanup Cost Put at $105 Million

Authorities estimated that it will cost $105 million to clean up rivers and streams flowing into Europe’s largest nature reserve that were contaminated in one of the nation’s worst ecological disasters. Environment Minister Isabel Tocino announced an eight-year emergency plan to purify the waters that feed Donana National Park and said responsibility for paying for the cleanup lies with “those who produced the [toxic] residue.” Tocino has blamed the Canadian-Swedish conglomerate Boliden Ltd. for the massive toxic spill last month at its zinc mine in southern Spain that contaminated nearby waterways, destroyed crops and killed wildlife. A Boliden spokesman reasserted the company’s denial of negligence and said that it will be up to the Spanish courts to determine liability.