The environmental accident at the Ajka Alumina Plant has affected the lives of several thousand people, two minor rivers have suffered heavy alkaline pollution, and even the main course of the Danube has been affected. The international community is concerned about potential transboundary pollution problems arising from the accident.
The storage pond is owned by MAL Corporation, a large producer of alumina and a significant employer in the region. The disaster prompted calls for examining whether environmental risks were properly assessed during MAL’s privatization or indeed the privatization of industry in general. The government has indicated that it holds the corporation accountable for the disaster and, based on early evidence, on October 11th state prosecutors ordered the arrest of MAL’s managing director, Zoltán Bakonyi.
Most of the pollution, so-called "red sludge", is highly alkaline and contains by-products of alumina production: iron-, aluminium-, silicon- titanium-, calcium- sodium- oxides, arsenic as well as probably some smaller amounts of other heavy metals. Most of the spilt sludge settled around the accident site contaminating some 800-1,000 ha, devastating the villages of Kolontár and Devecser, killing six people and injuring up to 80 more. The local rivers Torna and Marcal are heavily polluted, and the village of Kolontár had to be evacuated.
At the moment the transboundary effects of the spill seem to be negligible. While the problem of high alkalinity content can be effectively dealt with (and the Hungarian authorities are now actively working on that, applying lime and gypsum on a massive scale), the problem of land contamination with metals, potentially making them unsuitable for agriculture and horticulture, seems to be the major problem. People will probably be unable to continue to live there which means that they will have to be re-settled. Who will cover these costs and how this issue can be addressed will be a real challenge for the country, though the government indicated that it will hold MAL economically liable. Currently most of the people affected are in temporary accommodation. Locals are receiving emergency assistance from the government, insurance companies, local NGOs and a wide range of donors including MAL. Beyond emergency assistance there will be much higher long term costs associated with reconstruction, decontamination and the resettlement of locals who announced that they are planning to collectively sue MAL for damages.
So this disaster has two dimensions - ecological and human. There is more certainty with the ecological part of the tragedy now. It is possible to predict how far the pollutants are likely to spread and what are the means to contain them, although their exact concentration and long-term fate in the environment is less known. There is more uncertainty on the human dimensions front. Longer-term health effects of the disaster will not be clear until detailed risk assessments are carried out. Many lost all their belongings and even more might lose their livelihoods if the operations of MAL need to be shut down to reduce the risk of further contamination. The effects of this environmental disaster that is now considered the worst in Hungary’s history will be felt for many years to come.
CEU’s founder and main benefactor Mr. Soros has already announced that he will donate one million dollars to the victims of the red sludge spill through the Open Society Institute system. CEU hopes that this donation sets a good example and that more funds will be made available to the victims of the flood.