Sarah Ogletree
10/8/2010
1:11 AM
This past Monday, villages in southwest Hungary were hit by a wave of toxic, red mud sludge. The thick sludge, that causes severe burns and irritation when not treated, covered everything in its path when a reservoir at an aluminum plant burst. The sludge injured 116 people, and killed four -Many are still missing. Other problems caused by the environmental disaster include the contamination of crops and nearby rivers that serve as a common water source to the communities around them. Locals have also been instructed not to eat the now poison foods in their gardens. Emergency workers are currently dumping plaster and fertilizers into the Marcal River in hopes that it will counteract the sludge’s alkalinity, and prevent it from moving downstream and spreading into larger rivers (where it would effect more people and land). Though the dam has been fixed, many people had to evacuate their homes, and there is uncertainty surrounding when it will be safe for them to return.
The sludge has obviously caused serious problems. The article made that apparent by describing the deaths, injuries, and clean-up efforts now taking place. I felt it would have been more effective however, if the article had included more on what this will mean for these villages in the long term. Was it just the crops directly exposed to the sludge that have been harmed, or is the soil now bad? Why did the reservoir break, and are efforts being made to prevent something like this from happening again at another plant? -These are all things that I thought would have been helpful to touch on. It would have helped to form a greater idea of the concentrated, or vast effect of this event from a sociological standpoint. Other than these things, I found the article very well-written and informative.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/10/06/hungary.toxic/
No comments:
Post a Comment