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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Cleanup Effort After TOXIC MUD Floods Devastate Villages

According to the following article, relief efforts aren't going well following the toxic mud floods from the burst reservoir in Hungary. Residents of the nearby towns and villages are finding it increasingly hard to cope with the damages. Five people were killed, at least 150 injured, and three people are still missing while several hundred more left homeless after the red tide crashed through their homes and gardens. 
    . . . June

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Villagers struggle with cleanup effort after toxic mud flood
The Observers:

Five days after one million cubic metres of toxic red sludge spilled out of a burst reservoir at an alumina plant in western Hungary, residents of the nearby towns and villages are finding it increasingly hard to cope with the damages.

Five people were killed and at least 150 injured in the resulting floods in seven villages around the Ajkai Timfoldgyar alumina plant, located 100 km west of Budapest. Three people are still missing and several hundred more left homeless after the red tide crashed through their homes and gardens.

The material, a residue of aluminium, is highly alkaline and slightly radioactive. Fears are growing that the pollution might spread to other European countries after it reached the Danube on Thursday. But on Friday officials said that alkalinity levels from the spill had subsided in the river and that there was no risk of a major environmental catastrophe across the region.

However, mercury, arsenic and chromium levels are still abnormally high in Kolontar and Devecser, the villages worst hit by the floods. Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, 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.

"The relief effort is not well organised"

Zsuzsa Halmay lives in Somlójenő, one of the villages in the area affected by the floods. She is a member of the Hungarian Green party, (Politics can be different - LMP), whose activists have been volunteering to help with the cleanup and relief efforts.

We are trying to organise ourselves to help people in the affected areas, but it is very difficult because the scale of the damage is so huge. We are working on two fronts: volunteering to clean and disinfect damaged property, as well as collecting money, food, cloths and goods to distribute to the flood victims.

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Toxic RED SLUDGE From A Metal Refinery Engulfed Towns In Hungary

 How horrible to be suddenly confronted by a tide of toxic sludge which burns through your clothes. That's what these villagers in Hungary  were faced with. According to the article below, the flood of caustic red mud triggered a state of emergency declaration by Hungarian officials. At least four people were killed, six were missing and 120 injured, many with burns. Hundreds were evacuated.
    . . . June


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Hungary sludge flood called 'ecological disaster'
Yahoo! News: "By BELA SZANDELSZKY and PABLO GORONDI, Associated Press Writers

KOLONTAR, Hungary – A lethal torrent of toxic red sludge from a metal refinery engulfed towns in Hungary, burning villagers through their clothes and threatening an ecological disaster Tuesday as it swept toward the Danube River.

The flood of caustic red mud triggered a state of emergency declaration by Hungarian officials. At least four people were killed, six were missing and 120 injured, many with burns.

Hundreds were evacuated in the aftermath of the disaster Monday, when a gigantic sludge reservoir burst its banks at an alumina plant in Ajka, a town 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Budapest, the capital. The torrent of sludge inundated homes, swept cars off roads and damaged bridges.

Named for its bright red color, the material is a waste product in aluminum production that contains heavy metals and is toxic if ingested.

In Kolontar, the town closest to the plant, Erzsebet Veingartner was in her kitchen when the 12-foot-high wave of red slurry hit, sweeping away everything in its path.

"I looked outside and all I saw was the stream swelling like a huge wave," the 61-year-old widow said Tuesday as she surveyed her backyard, still under 6 feet of noxious muck.

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