The mud, a byproduct of refining aluminium from bauxite ore, was dangerously alkaline, extremely salty and contained potentially toxic metals like chromium and vanadium. And this was the first time red mud had ever been released into the environment in such large quantities. Red mud was characterized and its toxicity for plants was measured to evaluate the soil contamination risks. Therefore, these contaminants are unlikely to be remobilized at the circumneutral pH values of soil pore waters and those of the Torna-Marcal system, which limits bioavailability significantly. Hungary is environmentally rich said the Romans. This story is republished courtesy of Planet Earth online, a free, companion website to the award-winning magazine Planet Earth published and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). 10 red mud storage pond at the alumina production facility MAL, in Ajka, Hungary broke. Commentary. The biggest chemical accident in Hungary's history has killed four people and swept through entire villages. The difference between the single and concrete case and general character means an old philosophical problem. Plant managers on trial for Hungarian toxic mud spill, Study explores a unique filament of the Cygnus X complex, Researchers report evidence for two main domestication paths for bread yeast, Near-atomic-scale analysis of frozen water, Characterizing the time-dependent material properties of protein condensates, Some droughts during the Indian monsoon are due to unique North Atlantic disturbances. Some 700,000 m 3 of highly alkaline red mud poured over 40 km 2 of the Hungarian landscape, emitting radiation, and spreading toxic trace metals. The after effects of the 2010 red mud spill that threatened to poison great swathes of the Hungarian countryside have turned out to be far less harmful than scientists originally feared. The Torna ( Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈtornɒ] ) river runs through the affected area, and emergency workers were pouring tonnes of plaster into the waterway to try to bind the sludge and prevent it from continuing downstream. Your opinions are important to us. Saturday, October 09, 2010 . Keeble McFarlane. Weather conditions, forecasts and analysis for the UK and the world. The reservoirs of the former alumina factory, located right next to the Danube, received much attention after the 2010 red mud disaster in Western Hungary, when ten people died and 150 people were injured as a result of the Ajka alumina plant accident. Gas, electricity and water supplies have been affected. Do equations for groundwater flow refer to water density? The chemicals released into the water killed fish and other wildlife. The mudflow was two metres high and covered an area 40 sq km. Other countries that border Hungary are Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. Main content area. One million cubic metres of, The reservoir contained industrial waste material stored from a nearby. Eighteen major floods occurred in the 20th century. 'There hadn't been any large-scale spill of this material before, so we didn't really know how it would affect the environment; what we have found out over the last few years means we're in a far better position to manage these risks in future. Mayes even has another NERC-funded project looking at recovering valuable metals from aluminium refining waste, such as chromium, vanadium and rare earths; if we could find a way to recover these economically, this would both create a potentially valuable income stream and reduce the waste's potential environmental impact. We do not guarantee individual replies due to extremely high volume of correspondence. 'It's a good news story,' says Dr Will Mayes of the University of Hull, the paper's senior author. and Terms of Use. THE HUNGARIAN toxic red mud spill in early October was a calamity for the people in the town of Ajka. EU crisis response team to help Hungary with toxic mud spill - Duration: 1:06. The amount of reparations to be imposed was to be determined later. Hungary - Hungary - Government and society: The modern political system in Hungary contained elements of autocracy throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, but in the period between 1867 and 1948 it had a functioning parliament with a multiparty system and a relatively independent judiciary. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. The disaster happened when weeks of heavy rain caused a dam to collapse at a containment facility in Ajka in Western Hungary. Seven towns and around 7,000 people were affected. It released around a million cubic metres of toxic sludge into the Torna-Marcal river system, … 1:06 ... Eco disaster in Hungary after red aluminum toxic sludge - Duration: 3:25. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Now the authorities are worried that the toxic sludge could reach the Danube River. The topsoil in agricultural areas was left. Effects of red mud pollution on the community structure of Collembola were studied in soils from open grassland and forest habitats following the red … Tweet. Read about our approach to external linking. part may be reproduced without the written permission. Much to learn from that Hungarian red mud spill. 5G and future 6G terahertz absorbed by water vapour = heating? He received urgency funding from NERC in the immediate aftermath of the spill; his team travelled to Hungary and worked with Hungarian geoscientists to test sediments in the rivers downstream. And even at the worst former pollution hotspots, there was little trace of the red mud. Collembolan response to red mud pollution in Western Hungary Author: Winkler, Daniel 1 THE RED MUD CATASTROPHE OF AJKA – A SHORT OVERVIEW On the 4th October 2010, the corner of the No. This document is subject to copyright. or, by Tom Marshall, PlanetEarth Online. Hungary’s armed forces were to be restricted to 35,000 men, lightly armed and employed only to maintain internal order and to secure the frontiers. [6] The mudflow was two metres high and covered an area 40 sq km. But a new study in Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts shows that there's hardly any trace left of the red mud in the Tornar and Marcal rivers downstream of the spill. Nearby unpolluted control plots of each habitat types were selected for comparative purposes. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no That environmental disaster, which received far less media attention than Hungary’s red-mud spill, left 2.5 million people temporarily without safe drinking water. Some 700,000 m 3 of highly alkaline red mud poured over 40 km 2 of the Hungarian landscape, emitting radiation, and spreading toxic trace metals. "Typically the concentrations are small in red mud and what is present is tightly bound to the particles of iron oxide," he says. In the 19th century, six major floods were recorded in 1842, 1858, 1871, 1875, 1885 and 1892. One million cubic metres of industrial waste was released into the area. The chemicals released into the water killed fish and other wildlife. However, the response was highly soil specific and one of the soils tested buffered pH to around pH 8.5 even with the highest red mud loading tested (33 % w/w); experiments using this soil also had much lower aqueous Al, As and V concentrations. At the time they found numerous alarming pollution hotspots where toxins from the mud seemed to be building up, although it also turned out that many of its most concerning components were present in forms that aren't particularly easy for living things to absorb. Kolontar, Hungary: As toxic mud polluted waters flow towards the Danuber from Monday’s breach of an alumina plant residue dam, WWF-Hungary has warned the environmental impacts could be longer lasting than the 2000 cyanide spill into the Danube basin. Red toxic mud from the sludge reservoir of the Ajka aluminium works flooded Devecser and other towns and villages in Hungary, killing 10 people and inuring many more on 5 October 2010. Our tips from experts and exam survivors will help you through. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any form. 2010 triplicate samples of red mud (K1a, K1b, and K1c) were recovered from the dyke breach of the Ajka red mud impoundment (Location K1 in 17; Lat 47°05′20 N, Long 14°29′43 E). In October 2010, a large river of toxic red mud flowed through areas of Hungary. The factory producing the waste may not have been properly maintained. Hungary’s Toxic Red Mud Spill in early October has important lessons for Southeast Asia. The Romans were the first to utilise Hungarian natural resources. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties. Notes that the 2010 red mud disaster was Hungary’s worst industrial catastrophe, and commemorates the victims on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of that tragic event; 2. Apart from the immediate effects of the wave of red mud, there was also concern for a possible contamination of Hungary's waterways. For this latest study they returned and rejoined their Hungarian colleagues to re-test the river sediments at the same places. Recognises the rapid and effective intervention of the national authorities in the crisis response phase and the major efforts made by civil society during the unprecedented disaster; 3. The red mud is enriched in many potential contaminants (notably Al, As, Co, Ni, and Cr ) which were associated with residual hard-to-leach fractions of the red mud-affected sediments [15, 19]. The fine-grained nature of the red mud also meant that in many areas any sludge that didn't get cleaned up was quickly washed downstream and into the Danube river, which is so huge that it was soon diluted to the point of harmlessness and flowed out to sea. Nine people died, 120 were injured. Why is the CO2 level lower in my house than outside? Impacts from the disaster. Others, though, such as vanadium – a metal suspected of causing cancer – were there in highly concentrated and bioavailable form. Hungary’s environmental laws had designated the red mud as toxic, Mr. Illes said, but those rules were relaxed after Hungary joined the European Union in 2004. The toxic waste — with cyanide levels 400 times the maximum normal amount — poured into local rivers, ultimately inflicting serious damage on more than 1,000 kilometers of waterway in the Danube ecosystem in four countries. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1449240174198-2'); }); The disaster happened when weeks of heavy rain caused a dam to collapse at a containment facility in Ajka in Western Hungary. 11 Key actors of the red sludge disaster in Hungary János I. Tóth Introduction The case study refers first to the concrete, specific and single case, but science is also interested in the abstract and general character (Flyvbjerg, 2011). Flood prevention processes help to reduce damage and protect people in the event of a flood. 'This kind of catastrophic environmental event means we gather a lot of information in a short time,' he says. Your feedback will go directly to Science X editors. Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. It released around a million cubic metres of toxic sludge into the Torna-Marcal river system, onto the Hungarian plain and ultimately into the Danube. We didn't know exactly what the effects would be, but some commentators feared the long-term effects on people and wildlife could be severe. You can be assured our editors closely monitor every feedback sent and will take appropriate actions. The red mud accident of October 4, 2010, in Ajka (Hungary) contaminated a vast area with caustic, saline red mud (pH 12) that contains several toxic trace metals above soil limits. These included suggestions on how to build an effective retaining wall at the site of the disaster that would prevent any further mud spillage, using modern methods that took account of underground conditions and the way water moves through the earth. It … Following the break-up of a cracked tank at the MAL-bauxite mill in Ajka, 160 km west of Budapest, more than one million cubic meters of toxic red mud had engulfed three villages . Thank you for taking your time to send in your valued opinion to Science X editors. It has been a member of the European Union (EU) since 2004. This brought forth the realisation of the rich environmental properties found in Hungary. It is important to understand what causes flooding and what the effects can be. Mayes says the knowledge gained in the wake of the Ajka spill will help governments deal better with similar events in future. "It's not a 'we're all going to die' scenario. It's just a shame it takes a huge disaster to move things on and make us gain this knowledge.'. Mw7.0 Greek islands off the coast of western Turkey, Meridional Heat Transfer - Ocean and Atmosphere, Today's Climate Change and the Permian-Triassic Boundary, Science X Daily and the Weekly Email Newsletter are free features that allow you to receive your favorite sci-tech news updates in your email inbox. Things turned out so well partly because the Hungarian government acted quickly, spending around €127 million on dredging mud out of rivers and removing it from the flood plain, as well as dosing it with acid near the source of the spill and then adding gypsum further away in an effort to reduce its dangerous levels of alkalinity. On October 4, 2010, Hungary was experiencing the most serious industrial accident in its history. Click here to sign in with Overnight the world has woken up to intimate knowledge of the process of extracting aluminium from bauxite and its by-product the red mud, which devastated several villages, including Kolontár and Devecser, in the SouthWest of Hungary on Monday, 4th October 2010, bringing with it a long term threat of environmental pollution in several countries. Hungary's official language is the Hungarian language. Medical Xpress covers all medical research advances and health news, Tech Xplore covers the latest engineering, electronics and technology advances, Science X Network offers the most comprehensive sci-tech news coverage on the web. The aftereffects of the 2010 red mud spill that threatened to poison great swathes of the Hungarian countryside have turned out to be far less harmful than scientists originally feared. Subscribe today. In October 2010, a large river of toxic red mud flowed through areas of Hungary. Hungary is a country in Central Europe. Around 80 to 90 people have been taken to hospital with chemical burns. Effects of red mud pollution on the community structure of Collembola were studied in soils from open grassland and forest habitats following the red mud disaster in Western Hungary. Hungarian Mud Natural Skin Detox has been classified as curative in terms of its properties by the Hungarian medical authorities. 'There was a lot of red mud, but in the context of the Danube river system's size and rate of flow it doesn't seem to have had much impact,' Mayes explains. 'Our results show that the combined effect of the structure of the sediment and the Hungarian government's remediation efforts have mostly dealt with the spill's aftereffects – we found the geochemical signal from the red mud has almost completely disappeared.'. Thankfully, the situation in Hungary is not representative of the alumina industry as a whole and the refinery in Hungary is now using more modern technologies that produce drier by-products that reduce the risk of spills. The content is provided for information purposes only. Other NERC-funded researchers including Professor Paul Younger, then of Newcastle University, and scientists from the British Geological Survey also travelled to Hungary after the spill, offering expert advice on the government's response to the disaster. This site uses cookies to assist with navigation, analyse your use of our services, and provide content from third parties. EURACTIV 732 views. Its capital city is Budapest. Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. of the mud was high enough to cause chemical burns. 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