Ecological Catastrophe by Toxic Spill in Hungary

The Hungarian government declared a state of alert in three departments of the West, threatened by a toxic spill of “red mud” that has caused four deaths and threatens to become an “ecological catastrophe majeure” for the fauna and flora of the Danube.

The chemical disaster that occurred after the burst on Monday where the company improperly stored mud bauxite for reasons still unknown. The toxic fluid fell into a pond and mixed with flood waters for days affects the area.

“The government declared a state of alert in the departments of Veszprém, Gyor-Moson-Sopron and Vas due to spill red mud,” said the Interior Ministry.

On Monday, a deposit of a Ajka aluminum plant, 165 km west of Budapest, broke for reasons still unknown, pouring 1.1 million cubic meters of red mud in the surrounding villages.

Four people, two adults, one child and one baby died, six are missing and 120 wounded, including eight seriously, reported Tuesday anticatástrofes services director, Gyorgy Bakondi. Other 62 people were hospitalized, he said.

This is the worst chemical disaster in Hungary, said Secretary of State for Environment, Zoltan Illes, who traveled to Kolontar, one of the most affected.

The red mud is a toxic waste from the production of aluminum, which is corrosive and contains lead.

The production of one ton of aluminum leaves about three tons of red mud. Could achieve in a period of four days the river Danube, the second largest in Europe after the Volga, said the society’s deputy director of water management, Sandor Toth.

“This is a catastrophe. The stream Torna where spilled red mud was dumped in the river Marcal, which in turn goes to the river Raab, a tributary of the Danube”, said Toth.

The experts attempt to neutralize the corrosive effect of gypsum slurry, which they will unfertilized much of the ground which came into contact, an area of 40 square km.

Most Marcal River fish will die, experts estimated.

The company said the accident could be attributed to a technical problem. Other sources emit the hypothesis that strong wind that blew on Monday has been creating waves that broke the resistance of red mud tank.

Zoltan Illes said that the accident was caused by “overproduction from the factory on the other hand continued to work several hours after the accident.” (AFP / DPA)