A cyanide spill that polluted two European rivers will “poison the whole food chain for years to come,” according to a Hungarian environmental official. The head of Hungary’s environmental committee and parliament repeated assertions that the spill that contaminated the Danube and Tisza Rivers represents the biggest environmental catastrophe since Chernobyl, the world’s worst nuclear accident. The fact that heavy metals also got into the rivers means an even worse problem than the cyanide, he said in a television interview. The spill originated in northwestern Romania, where a gold mine overflowed January 30th, causing cyanide to pour into streams. A cyanide solution is used to separate gold ore from surrounding rock. The polluted water flowed west into Hungary, then to Yugoslavia, a federation made up of the republics of Serbia and Montenegro. The poison destroyed virtually all aquatic life in the Tisza River before entering the Danube. The Tisza is one of the country’s major rivers.