The community arrived in the industrial part of the city already in the beginning of the 20th century when Belgium chemicals giant Solvay established a chemicals factory. The area began to develop and more factories were opened offering jobs to the locals and for people from other regions of Romania. During research in Turda, the author of this case learnt that both Roma and non-Roma came to work in the factories and settled in Turda. Even though the town was attractive due to jobs, the area became highly polluted.

Production at the site ended in 1988. Most of the non-Roma population left the site due to the health issues related to mercury contamination; however, the Roma families remained because the rents were cheap and they had no other place to go to. After the fall of Communism when most of the industrial area of Turda went bankrupt and the area was abandoned, only poor and unemployed Roma remained.  "The Turda plant is a textbook example of a disastrous post-communist privatization, encouraged by neoliberal western economists and financial institutions and pursued by many Eastern European countries. [...] The plant produced the first chemical gas in World War I – iprit, commonly known as mustard gas – which the Germans used in the famous battle of Ypres in Belgium. The plant was nationalized from the Belgians in 1948, with the communist regime refitting the factory in the 1950s and 1960s with the help of German expertise, before being re-privatized in the 1990s" [2]

The industrial site was not properly cleaned and large quantities of mercury and other toxic substances remained in the abandoned buildings of the former factories. in 1999, an Iraqi businessman stepped forward to purchase the assets for €1.93 billion, dismantled and sold the machinery and installations and the "plant’s electrolysis section where the mercury was handled carelessly with tons of toxic materials infiltrating the soil, left to be scavenged by locals" [2].  In 2007 it was bought by its current owner SC Leef Logistics Park, later called A3 Logistic Park. According to research by Yale University, a 2008 company report assessed pollution levels at the site and identified contaminated areas, probably in violation of European Union environmental legislation [2]. 

Research in Turda by the author of this cases showed that nowadays the Roma from the industrial region of Turda are spread in two communities: Szolvany where about 100 families live on the formal industrial site, and Armatei Rosii  where more than 500 families live in proximity of the former factories. Many of them collect iron from the abandoned buildings. The recent field visit showed that only some have access to water, electricity, and the sewage system. There is no road infrastructure. Many residents of the community suffer from mercury contamination related health issues, while being unaware of the reasons. There have been accidents linked to the degradation of the former factories buildings; however, the local authorities have not taken any steps to rehabilitate the area and ensure environmentally safe living conditions for the Roma community. [2]

During a recent field visit, the author of this case met a former employee of the chemicals plant who is trying to raise awareness of the toxicity of the site on social media; however with little results so far. In January 2018, a local group launched a project to decontaminate and rehabilitate around 10 hectares of land by removing surface soil as part of Turda's ambitions to become more attractive for tourists. [2] The mayor of Turda has also spoken about developing a new industrial site in the locality. [4] In any of these plans, the fate of the Roma families living at the site remains unclear.

The industrial site was not properly cleaned and large quantities of mercury and other toxic substances remained in the abandoned buildings of the former factories.