Toxic Red Sludge Reaches DANUBE RIVER

The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Kolontar, the site of the spill on Thursday and said there was no point in even removing the rubble from part of the village as it was impossible to live there again, according to the article below. The toxic spill of red sludge from the alumina plant reservoir was an ecological disaster and has now reached the Danube River, prompting yet more problems..
    . . . June

Toxic Hungarian sludge spill reaches River Danube
By Marton Dunai Gyor, Hungary

Hungary declared a state of emergency in three counties on Tuesday after the torrent of caustic waste sludge from bauxite refining hit Kolontar, Devecser and other villages 160 km (100 miles) west of Budapest.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Kolontar on Thursday and said there was no point in even removing the rubble from part of the village as it was impossible to live there again.

"It is difficult to find the words. Had this happened at night, everybody would be dead," he told reporters.

"CATASTROPHE"

"This is an unprecedented ecological catastrophe in Hungary. Human error is more than likely. The wall (of the reservoir) did not disintegrate in a minute. This should have been detected."

MAL Zrt, owner of the Ajkai Timfoldgyar alumina plant and the burst reservoir, said the last inspection of the reservoir on Monday had shown nothing wrong.

Disaster crews, military and local villagers were clearing away the rubble and searching for the three missing people.

Many people suffered burns and eye ailments caused by the caustic mud. The flood, estimated at about 700,000 cubic meters (24 million cubic feet), swept cars off roads and damaged bridges and houses.

MAL said it hoped to restart production at its alumina plant at the weekend with a new sludge containment pond.

Many people in Kolontar said they would not move back to their houses as they did not feel secure.

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