Shannon DeWitt
10-8-10
On Monday, October 4, a giant storage reservoir at the Ajkai Timfoldgyar alumina refinery in Hungary bursts sending a tide of toxic red mud covering 40 square kilometers of land. It was described as Hungary’s worst chemical accident and an “ecological catastrophe.” Over a hundred people were injured a few have died. Some people are still missing. The red sludge is a byproduct of producing aluminum. As it entered nearby small rivers and streams all the fish and wildlife inhabiting them died and were found floating at the surface. The worst hit area, nearest to the broken dam, was in ruin. The break in the dam was blamed on weakening of the walls due to excessive heavy rain in the past couple weeks. Plaster is being poured into the nearby rivers in an attempt to prevent further contamination. It is estimated to cost tens of millions of dollars to clean up the mess and around a year to complete the clean-up process.
This incident has been described in the news as comparable in size to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I find it particularly alarming that two serious accidents of this magnitude have occurred in the past year. If a serious incident such as this occurs it should serve as a warning to other companies that have responsibility to control pollutants that they need to take inspection of their containment facilities more seriously for the best interest of the environment, people, and their company. Not only is the environment closest to the incidents affected, but environments and people around the world are affected as well. We all share this planet’s land, water, and air so we should act as if this is the reality. I think if people would come together to take a stand against careless accidents and demand more specific and effective emergency responses in preparation of a disastrous event occurring then the environment would be less affected and more lives, both human and animal, could be spared in the future. Hungary and surrounding countries were quick to act on this incident and I commend them for that, but as they noticed the weakening of the dam due to the weather they should have halted production and taken any possible steps to prevent a break in the dam. The cost of halting production could never compare to the revenue loss and environmental damage caused by the occurrence of this catastrophe.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/10/06/hungary.sludge.chemical.spill/
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