The Ajka alumina plant accident in October 2010 was a

caustic Caustic most commonly refers to: * Causticity, the property of being able to corrode organic tissue ** Sodium hydroxide, sometimes called ''caustic soda'' ** Potassium hydroxide, sometimes called ''caustic potash'' ** Calcium oxide, sometimes cal ...

waste reservoir chain collapse at the Ajkai Timföldgyár

alumina Aluminium oxide (or aluminium(III) oxide) is a chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen with the chemical formula . It is the most commonly occurring of several aluminium oxides, and specifically identified as aluminium oxide. It is commonly ...

plant in

Ajka Ajka () is a city in Hungary with about 35,000 inhabitants. It is situated in the hills of Bakony. History Around 1000 BCE, the area was inhabited by Celts. By the second century CE, the territory was conquered by the Roman Empire, Romans. The Hu ...

Veszprém County Veszprém (, ; ) is an administrative county (''vármegye'') in Hungary. Veszprém is also the name of the capital city of Veszprém county. Veszprém county Veszprém county lies in western Hungary. It covers the Bakony hills and the norther ...

, in western

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. On 4 October 2010, at 12:25 CEST (10:25

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

), the northwestern corner of the dam of reservoir number 10 collapsed, releasing approximately one million cubic metres (35 million cubic feet) of liquid waste from

red mud Red mud, now more frequently termed bauxite residue, is an industrial waste generated during the processing of bauxite into alumina using the Bayer process. It is composed of various oxide compounds, including the iron oxides which give its red ...

lakes. The mud was released as a wave, flooding several nearby localities, including the village of

Kolontár Kolontár () is a village in Veszprém county, Hungary. Soil pollution disaster On 4 October 2010 a 1.5–4 meter high wave of red mud Red mud, now more frequently termed bauxite residue, is an industrial waste generated during the pro ...

and the town of

Devecser Devecser () is a town in Veszprém County, Hungary. In the Middle Ages there were five villages in the area of today's Devecser: Devecser, Kisdevecser, Szék, Meggyes, and Patony. These villages expanded in the 12th and 13th century. There is an H ...

.. Ten people died, and 150 people were injured.. About of land were initially affected. The spill reached the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

on 7 October 2010. It was not initially clear how the containment at the reservoir had been breached, although the accident came after a particularly wet summer in Hungary, as in other parts of central Europe. Police have seized documents from the Ajkai Timföldgyár plant, although a spokesman for

MAL Hungarian Aluminium MAL Hungarian Aluminium () was a Hungary, Hungarian company that was specializing in the production of aluminium and related products. It was established in 1995 during the privatization of the Hungarian aluminium industry. MAL's initial assets we ...

(''MAL Magyar Alumínium Termelő és Kereskedelmi Zrt.''), the company that operates the plant, said the last inspection of the pond had shown "nothing untoward". Hungarian Prime Minister

Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and politician who has been the 56th prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has also led the Fidesz political party since 200 ...

stated that the cause of the spill was presumably

human error Human error is an action that has been done but that was "not intended by the actor; not desired by a set of rules or an external observer; or that led the task or system outside its acceptable limits".Senders, J.W. and Moray, N.P. (1991) Human Er ...

."Toxic Red Sludge Spill From Hungarian Aluminum Plant 'An Ecological Disaster'"
David Gura, NPR, 2010

Origin of the mud

The

involved in the accident is a waste product of the

Bayer process The Bayer process is the principal industrial means of refining bauxite to produce alumina (aluminium oxide) and was developed by Carl Josef Bayer. Bauxite, the most important ore of aluminium, contains only 30–60% aluminium oxide (Al2O3), the ...

, which refines

bauxite Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...

into a form of

aluminium oxide Aluminium oxide (or aluminium(III) oxide) is a chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen with the chemical formula . It is the most commonly occurring of several Aluminium oxide (compounds), aluminium oxides, and specifically identified as alum ...

called alumina. The mud primarily contains non-aluminium compounds present in the

ore and left as residues after its refining along with

sodium hydroxide Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly corrosive base (chemistry), ...

used to dissolve aluminium oxide.

Iron(III) oxide Iron(III) oxide or ferric oxide is the inorganic compound with the formula . It occurs in nature as the mineral hematite, which serves as the primary source of iron for the steel industry. It is also known as red iron oxide, especially when use ...

, the compound from which the red colour originates, is the main component, but it also contains other compounds. The mud, which is highly

alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The a ...

ne when it is first produced, is stored in large open-air ponds; It is thought that there are about 30 million tonnes of red mud stored around the Ajkai Timföldgyár plant. According to a press release by MAL, the mud had the following chemical percentage make-up (which expresses the amounts of different elements, not necessarily the actual solids). Unlike many other mine

tailings In mining, tailings or tails are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material ...

, red mud does not contain very high levels of heavy metals, although still about seven times the levels in normal soil.. Analyses of the mud at Kolontár on behalf of

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

showed levels of

chromium Chromium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6 element, group 6. It is a steely-grey, Luster (mineralogy), lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium ...

660 mg/kg,

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...

110 mg/kg and mercury 1.2 mg/kg.. The Hungarian government has stated that the mud is "not poisonous", and the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( , MTA) is Hungary’s foremost and most prestigious learned society. Its headquarters are located along the banks of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. The Academy's primar ...

stated that the heavy metal concentrations were not considered dangerous for the environment. In a different news article, the taskforce established to sample the red mud reported high levels of heavy metals in certain samples, but concluded no locations were "dangerously high." The main damage caused by the accident first arose from the high pH of the mud, which was responsible for both severe

chemical burn A chemical burn occurs when living tissue is exposed to a corrosive substance (such as a strong acid, base or oxidizer) or a cytotoxic agent (such as mustard gas, lewisite or arsine). Chemical burns follow standard burn classification and m ...

s to humans and animals and killing specimens in the rivers and in the contaminated soils. However, after dissipation of acute effects by dilution and progressive carbonation of the

by CO₂ from the air, the chronic toxicity of heavy metal traces is expected to be limited by their low

solubility In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a chemical substance, substance, the solute, to form a solution (chemistry), solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form su ...

and high

sorption Sorption is a physical and chemical process by which one substance becomes attached to another. Specific cases of sorption are treated in the following articles: ; Absorption: "the incorporation of a substance in one state into another of a d ...

under slightly alkaline conditions.

Effects

The wave of mud flooded streets in Kolontár, where seven people were confirmed dead, and Devecser, where the flow was powerful enough to move cars and vans. The cause of death of the Kolontár victims has not been formally confirmed; a spokesman for the National Directorate General for Disaster Management (NDGDM, ''Országos Katasztrófavédelmi Főigazgatóság'') said that they had probably drowned. A further six people were still missing 24 hours after the accident. The NDGDM said that the high-pH mud was considered hazardous and would cause an

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The ...

reaction on contact if not washed off with clean water. The mayor of Devecser said that 80–90 people had been taken to hospital with chemical burns. Péter Jakabos, a doctor in the hospital in

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

where many of the injured had been taken, said on

Magyar Televízió Magyar Televízió (, ''Hungarian Television'') or MTV is a nationwide public television broadcasting organization in Hungary. Headquartered in Budapest, it is the oldest television broadcaster in Hungary and today airs five channels: M1 HD, ...

that it might take days for the full extent of any burns to be realised. Magyar Alumínium (MAL) said that the mud was not considered to contain toxic elements according to EU standards. Initial measurements by the NDGDM showed the sludge to be extremely

basic Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...

, with a pH value of 13. The waste initially resulted in massive death to wildlife in and around the

Marcal The Marcal is a right tributary of the Rába which rises near Sümeg in the Bakony region of western Hungary. The river flows north and reaches Ukk on the Little Hungarian Plain. The Marcal follows a path similar to the Rába, and in many pla ...

river. The spill reached the

on 7 October, prompting countries located further down the river (

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

) to develop emergency plans in response.. The long term effects on sediments in the Tornar and Marcal rivers are considered minor. On 11 October, the Hungarian government announced that the managing director of MAL had been arrested, to be charged with "criminal negligence leading to a public catastrophe". Also on the 11th, the government took control of MAL, appointing a commissioner to manage the company. The government planned to focus on compensation for the incident, job security, and identifying further locations at risk of accidents.

Containment and cleanup

Apart from the immediate effects of the wave of red mud, there was also concern for a possible contamination of Hungary's waterways. The Torna () 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. The Torna joins the Marcal () river at

Karakó Karakó is a village in Vas county, Hungary. Etymology The name comes from Slavic ''Krakov'', see also Krakov (Czech Republic), Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-larg ...

, in

Vas County Vas (, ; ; or ; ) is an administrative county (Counties of Hungary, comitatus or ''vármegye'') of Hungary. It was also one of the counties of the former Kingdom of Hungary. It is part of the Centrope Project. Geography Vas County lies in weste ...

; the Marcal joins the

Rába The Rába (; ; ) is a river in southeastern Austria and western Hungary and a right tributary of the Danube. Geography Its source is in Austria, some kilometres east of Bruck an der Mur below Heubodenhöhe Hill. It flows through the Austrian ...

river just above

, in Győr-Moson-Sopron County, while the Rába itself joins the

at Győr. The day after the accident, Environmental State Secretary Zoltán Illés ordered the suspension of the alumina production at the plant and the reconstruction of the dam. The following day, the chairman of the company said in a radio interview that he would like to restart production over the weekend (5–6 days after the Monday accident); the plant reopened on 15 October, with full production expected to resume by the 19th. The Hungarian government initially estimated that cleanup would take at least a year and cost tens of millions of dollars. The Hungarian Government activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for urgent international assistance at 7:36PM on 7 October. The European Union Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) communicated the request for expert assistance to the 30 participating countries ( 27 EU member states,

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

). The former director of the MAL plant, Zoltán Bakonyi, and 14 other employees were arrested over charges of negligence, violations of waste management and environmental pollution on 11 October 2010, but were acquitted of all charges in January 2016. By 12 October 2010, a secondary dam beyond the remainder of the original had been almost entirely completed, after being built to contain additional sludge that was expected to overflow after another portion of the original dam collapsed. On 13 October, the government

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

the company, the bill making this possible having been passed by the Parliament one day earlier. In 2019, a criminal negligence case closed with the conviction of 10 people - managerial staff and employees - who were found guilty for security protocol infractions relating to waste storage and processing.

Gallery

Image:Ajkai vorosiszap tarozo (3)civertanlegi.jpg, Reservoir in 2007 before the breach File:Ajka accident 22b5430527 b.jpg, Aftermath of spill File:Devecser és Kolontár térsége a vörösiszap katasztrófa után.jpg, Satellite view of extent of spill File:Kolontar vedogat2.jpg, Clean up and repair works

References

External links