RED SLUDGE Reservoir At Risk Of Collapse

 The rest of the collapsed reservoir is apparently in imminent danger of collapsing, according to the article below, sending a new wave of caustic red sludge into towns devastated by a deluge this week. The nearest town has already been evacuated. This is really a great disaster, but it frightens me to think that there must be many other toxic waste facilities which are also in great danger of the same problem.
      . . . . June


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Hungary sludge reservoir at risk of collapse
- Yahoo! News: By BELA SZANDELSZKY AND PABLO GORONDI, Associated Press Sat Oct 9, 10:06 am ET

DEVECSER, Hungary – The cracking wall of an industrial plant reservoir could collapse at any moment and send a new wave of caustic red sludge into towns devastated by a deluge this week, Hungary's prime minister said Saturday.

A crack in the concrete wall widened by 2.76 inches (7 centimeters) overnight, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told reporters gathered at a fire station near the alumina plant that dumped up to 184 million gallons (700,000 cubic meters) of highly polluted water and mud onto three villages in about an hour Monday, burning people and animals. At least seven people were killed and hundreds injured.

Orban did not say how wide the crack had been, but he described collapse as imminent.
"Probably today, the wall could come down. I cannot say that it will happen surely, but already the risk is there," he said. "Cracks have appeared on the northern wall of the reservoir, which makes it very likely that the whole wall will collapse."

Red sludge is a byproduct of the refining of bauxite into alumina, the basic material for manufacturing aluminum. Treated sludge is often stored in ponds where the water eventually evaporates, leaving behind a largely safe red clay. Industry experts say the sludge in Hungary appears to have been insufficiently treated, if at all, meaning it remained highly caustic.

Most of what spilled Monday when the northeast corner of the reservoir collapsed was water, leaving behind slower-moving mud that has been kept in place by the remaining walls and barriers hastily erected in front of the ruptured section.

Orban said officials have started to build dams to the north, in the direction of lower-lying populated areas, to slow the mud in case of a second rupture.

The neighboring town of Kolontar, which was hit hardest in Monday's spill, has been evacuated. Officials believe they will have time to evacuate the next town of Devecser, 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) further north.

The prime minister said experts had estimated that an estimated 500,000 cubic meters of red sludge could escape from the reservoir if the wall collapsed, but said exact figures were hard to calculate.

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