Toxic Hungarian sludge spill reaches River Danube - Reuters

Locals cross a pontoon bridge next to a broken bridge in the flooded village of Kolontar, 150 km (93 miles) west of Budapest October 7, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Laszlo Balogh

By Marton Dunai

GYOR, Hungary | Thu Oct 7, 2010 5:30pm EDT

GYOR, Hungary (Reuters) - Toxic red sludge from a Hungarian alumina plant reached the Danube on Thursday and crews struggled to dilute it to protect the river from what the prime minister called an "unprecedented ecological catastrophe."

Experts said damage beyond the borders of Hungary was unlikely to be great but the threat had to be monitored closely.

Tibor Dobson, a spokesman for Hungarian disaster crews, told Reuters there were sporadic fish deaths in the Raba and the Mosoni-Danube rivers. He said all fish had died in the smaller Marcal River, which was hit by the spill first.

Crews were working to reduce the alkalinity of the spill, which poured out of the burst containment reservoir of an alumina plant on Monday and tore through local villages, killing four people and injuring over 150. Three are still missing.

The spill's alkaline content when it reached the Raba, the Mosoni-Danube and the Danube itself, was still around pH 9 -- above the normal, harmless level of between 6 and 8.

Fresh data from the water authority on national news agency MTI showed pH levels peaking at 9.65 in the Mosoni-Danube river at the city of Gyor. They were measured at 8.4 in the Danube.

Crews were pouring hundreds of tonnes of plaster and acetic acid into the rivers to neutralize the alkalinity.

In Gyor, a city in the northwest of Hungary where the Raba flows into the Mosoni-Danube, a Reuters reporter saw white froth on the river and many dead fish washed ashore.

Philip Weller, executive secretary to the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), a Vienna-based U.N. body, said most damage was local.

"It is clear that the consequences of this are greatest in the local area and that the implications on a trans-boundary level, we understand, will not be significant which doesn't mean they don't exist," he said.

"The Hungarian authorities took a number of measures to reduce the toxicity, they added substances to neutralize the material, they also constructed some underwater weirs to slow the mud and maintain it and contain it as much as possible in the Hungarian territory of the river system."

It also helps that the Danube is a large river with a very high volume of water, he added.

Gabor Figeczky, Hungarian branch director of the WWF environmental group said:

"Based on our current estimates, it (pollution) will remain contained in Hungary, and we also trust that it will reach Budapest with acceptable pH values."

Downstream from the disaster site, the Danube flows through or skirts Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Moldovan and Ukrainian territory en route to the Black Sea.

Production should not be resumed until the company responsible has cleaned up every molecule of this spill. If the go out of business… too bad. Maybe it will be a lesson for other companies. One of the pictures showed people sweeping the mess down a street drain… which probably goes to the river. Wouldn’t it be more reasonable to collect it while it can be containerized.

hebintn Report As Abusive

So, the operators of the plant want to resume production? How fast have they been to try to minimize the damage and clean up the mess already caused? Have they done anything for the families of the people killed in th accident?

I ask these questions because in my country, the U.S., I’m certain any operator in a similar situation would be eager to get the money rolling back in — even while stalling on spending even a single dollar towards recovery, cleanup, restitution, etc.

MekhongKurt Report As Abusive

Water pollution like this is just part of a natural cycle, like AGW. There is no need to get all worried about it. Life is to be enjoyed and people are what really matters, not a bunch of red water. Have another beer.

Sure, Man might be contributing somewhat to water pollution but more research is needed to determine the actual cause. Nature has dealt with things like this for eons and metal does originate in the Earth, you know.

The most important thing is that we must continue to grow the economy forever on this finite planet and accept pollution as mere collateral damage. (Spoken like a good Republican.)

Jack956 Report As Abusive

Reminds me of what British Petroleum did to the Gulf of Mexico. Only question now is…how many Republicans will be getting down on their knees and apologizing to the company that did this to Hungary?

wilder5121 Report As Abusive

Nothing we haven’t already seen in the US. Remember the Tennessee Valley Authority’s dike that broke and released nearly a billion gallons of fly ash contaminated water? It wasn’t red, but a dark grey.

GRRR Report As Abusive

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