A huge and more toxic torrent will escape damaged reservoir soon, government warns, as neighbouring countries wait for effect on Danube.
Emergency workers in Hungary have warned that another torrent of toxic red sludge will inevitably be unleashed when the remaining walls collapse at a reservoir which still holds more than 500m litres of the liquid waste.
The prime minister, Viktor Orban, has promised "the toughest possible" consequences for those responsible for the disaster, which has killed at least seven people and spilled millions of litres of toxic waste.
"Behind this tragedy, human errors and mistakes must exist. We are going to reveal all that," Orban said.
But the government has still not decided whether the company can resume production. Shutting down the plant completely would leave thousands out of work.
Cracks in the retaining walls have stopped widening for now, but will inevitably deteriorate, said Hungary's environment secretary, Zoltan Illes. He has already described the incident as the worst chemical accident in his country's history.
Gyorgyi Tottos, a spokeswoman for the disaster crews, said the effort to contain the waste was "a race against time" as further rain threatens to increase pressure on the reservoir wall.
Repair work is continuing. Extra protective walls are being built around the 10-hectare reservoir, near Ajka, and a dam 620 metres long is under construction to save parts of Kolontar not already hit. But experts are not confident that these measures can prevent a further disaster.
"I would describe the situation as hopeful, but nothing has really changed," Tibor Dobson, head of Hungary's disaster management team, told Associated Press. "The wall to protect Kolontar is planned to be finished by tonight, but it will likely be several days before residents may be able to move back."
Almost 800 residents of the town were evacuated on Saturday as a precaution, and 6,000 residents of the next village, Devecser, have been ordered to pack a single bag and be ready to abandon their homes at a moment's notice. Experts have warned a new flood could be even more toxic, because much of what poured out in the original leak was water, leaving the remaining sludge more concentrated.
A week after the original collapse at the alumina plant unleashed a wave of up to 700m litres of red mud which covered fields and seven towns and villages, the long-term effects of the spill are still being assessed. The sludge entered the Danube on Thursday, moving towards Croatia, Serbia and Romania.
Police have confiscated documents from the company, Mal Rt. The company's contingency plans for such a disaster are said to have allowed for only a fraction of what was actually unleashed.
While the torrent has left a trail miles long the colour of dried blood, neutralising chemicals and clay poured into tributaries before it reached the Danube, and the sheer volume of water in Europe's second longest river, seem to be limiting its impact to some extent.
In Romania, authorities are testing the water every four hours and warning people against letting animals drink from the water. However, fishermen were still putting out into the waters, and people still fishing for pike from the banks.
SOURCE
.
0 comments:
Post a Comment