Crews race to clean Hungary spill

06/10/2010| IslamWeb

Hungary has declared a state of emergency in three counties, a day after a torrent of toxic red sludge from an alumina plant tore through nearby villages, killing four people and injuring 120.

The waste, produced during bauxite refining, poured through Kolontar and two other villages on Monday after bursting out of a containment reservoir at the Ajkai Timfoldgyar Zrt plant, owned by MAL Zrt.

On Tuesday, the Natural Disaster Unit (NDU) said four more villages were affected and put the death toll at four. Six people were reported missing.

Others suffered from burns and eye irritations caused by lead and other corrosive elements in the mud. The flood, estimated at about 700,000 cubic meters, swept cars off roads and damaged bridges and houses, forcing the evacuation of about 400 residents.

"We have declared a state of emergency in Veszprem, Gyor-Moson-Sopron and Vas counties," Anna Nagy, a government spokeswoman, said. "In Veszprem county, it's because that is the scene of the disaster and the sludge is headed towards the other two counties."

'Human error'

Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister, said the spill may have been caused by a human error.

"We have no information at our disposal ... we do not know of any sign which indicates that this disaster would have natural causes," Orban said on Tuesday.

"And if a disaster has no natural causes, then it can be considered a disaster caused by people. We suspect that this may be the case."

He said tests have shown there was no threat of radiation.

"The situation is terrible and shocking. Now there is an investigation underway to find the person criminally responsible, because it is obviously not a natural catastrophe - it was caused by human mistake," Anna Nagy, a government spokesperson, told Al Jazeera.

People in Kolontar, which lies closest to the burst reservoir, were trying to recover their belongings but police were not yet letting them back into their flooded homes.

"My bathtub is full of this sludge ... when the dam burst, it made a terrible noise. I was in my yard, and I had to run up the steps to the porch but the water was rising faster than I could run," Ferenc Steszli, 60, said.

Farmland around the village was covered in the sludge and many livestock were killed.

Nagy told Al Jazeera it is "forbidden and impossible" for local residents to return to their homes.

"Everything is covered in this poisonous toxic sludge. There is no radiation, fortunately, but it causes severe burning and casualties when touched. Surface waters are polluted but deep water, where drinking water is supplied from, is not, which is very lucky," she said.

"We have a very good chance of preventing big rivers, like the Danube, from being polluted."

'Major disaster'

The disaster unit said clean-up crews were pouring plaster into a nearby river to help neutralize the spill and attempts were being made to prevent the sludge getting into the Danube, a major European waterway.

A Greenpeace expert said the impact from the mud spill could be much worse than a cyanide spill at Baia Mare in Romania 10 years ago, when cyanide-tainted water was discharged from a gold mine reservoir, polluting the Tisza and Danube rivers.

"This disaster is seven times as large as the incident in Baia Mare. The ecological impact can be very wide and take a long time to neutralize because heavy metals and caustic soda form a very dangerous toxic mix," Katerina Ventusova, a Greenpeace expert for toxics, said.

MAL Zrt, the owner of the plant, said in a statement that there had been no sign of the impending disaster, and that the red sludge did not qualify as hazardous waste according to European Union standards.

The NDU defined the red mud on its website as: "A by-product of alumina production. The thick, highly alkaline substance has a caustic effect on the skin. The sludge contains heavy metals, such as lead, and is slightly radioactive. Inhaling its dust can cause lung cancer."

It recommended people clean off the sludge with water to neutralize the substance.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Hungarian soldier wearing a chemical protection gear walks through a street flooded by toxic in the town of Devecser, Hungary, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010.

Al-Jazeera