On 4 October Hungary is commemorating the first anniversary of the red sludge disaster. Since the tragedy the Government has completely rebuilt the residential areas and rehabilitated the natural environment, and thanks to exemplary professional and public solidarity, one year on the three stricken settlements are now more in need of spiritual and economic strength than anything else.

MAL Zrt., the aluminium plant which caused the tragedy, and its reservoirs are now completely safe, and the Government can look back on several successes as a result of the months-long state supervision of the company. Such a tragedy cannot reoccur, due to the new dry technology introduced under state supervision and the protective flood barriers guarding the village of Kolontár.

On the first anniversary of the disaster on 4 October 2011, there will be commemorative events in the two worst-affected settlements. In Kolontár there will be a dedication ceremony of a tree of life made by wood carvers from Transylvania and a funeral bell in memory of the victims; the latter will form part of a study trail on the red sludge disaster. In Devecser a new post office and the Rotary House cultural and educational centre have been completed for the first anniversary.

On 4 October 2010 Hungary’s largest ever industrial and environmental disaster occurred, when one of the reservoir walls at the privately-owned MAL Hungarian Aluminium plant ruptured, and 1.8 million m³ of strongly alkaline liquid red sludge flooded out to cover nearby settlements.

The settlements of Kolontár, Devecser and Somlóvásárhely were worst affected by the disaster. Ten people died in the tragedy, and more than 300 families lost their homes, but the settlements themselves also suffered serious damage. The damage to agriculture and the environment was also significant because red sludge flooded the Torna brook, and through that polluted the Marcal-Rába-Duna river system.

Complete rebuilding with government aid

This disaster was unprecedented even at international level, and it presented the Government and the public with an extraordinary challenge. Immediately following the disaster the most urgent tasks were protection of lives and the evacuation of the population to a place of safety, followed by protection of the fabric of the settlements themselves and reinforcement of dam walls. Temporary defence works protecting the settlements were completed within three months of the disaster, and the construction of structures providing total protection has now been completed. Safety has also been increased by the construction of a safety dam in the immediate vicinity of Kolontár after the disaster.

Over the past year the Government has allocated almost HUF 35 billion ($157 million / €118 million) to completely rebuild the stricken area. Thus the now rehabilitated natural and built environment is open to visitors again, and life in the region is returning to its normal routine.

The settlements have been singled out as of special economic significance, and the near future will see the launch of community projects aimed at encouraging spiritual and economic renewal in the settlements, to enable the inhabitants to live better than they did before the catastrophe.

Nobody shall be without a home

The red sludge caused significant damage to 363 properties, most of these being houses. The majority of damaged properties (306) had to be demolished. The number of people whose homes were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable was 731. The Government offered a choice of replacement housing alternatives to those affected: they could either opt for a newly-built home; an existing house purchased in their name; the rehabilitation of their damaged property; or financial compensation.

In line with the decisions of those affected, 112 houses were built with state support. Those affected were able to move into houses in two new residential estates, one of 87 houses in Devecser and one of 21 houses in Kolontár. One hundred and twenty-five families chose to buy existing properties, and 79 of those affected chose financial compensation.

Those affected will receive full compensation

In addition to ensuring housing for all those affected, the Government undertook to compensate all affected families and to replace all lost or irretrievably damaged goods. The State also compensated people for loss and damage to furniture, farm animals, gardens, unharvested crops, clothing, food and vehicles. The Government has committed to compensating businesses affected by the red sludge tragedy, i.e. compensation for damage and loss of movable property, machinery, fittings and stock. By the middle of September, 90 per cent of non-agricultural businesses had signed compensation agreements and the agreed sums had been paid out.

Alongside this, thanks to an unprecedented level of solidarity, a huge number of donations arrived from people in Hungary and abroad; so in order to coordinate relief activities, the Civil Humanitárius Coordination centre was formed, with the cooperation of the National Directorate General for Disaster Management, the Ministry of National Resources, the Hungarian Red Cross, the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service, Hungarian Interchurch Aid, Caritas Hungarica and Hungarian Baptist Aid.

The Hungarian Disaster Relief Fund: hope for the settlements

In order to compensate those affected, the Government created the Hungarian Disaster Relief Fund, to which Hungarian and foreign individuals and companies can make financial donations. The fund has raised around HUF 2 billion for the development of the region, the creation of new jobs and of a more liveable environment, and indeed of better, 21st-century conditions. Therefore recovery aid was received not only by those who were in need of housing, but also those whose livelihoods and neighbourhoods were endangered. Money from the Hungarian Disaster Relief Fund was used, among other things, to rebuild the police station in Devecser and the school sports field in Kolontár – both destroyed in the tragedy.

Public health is being monitored continuously

Ten people lost their lives in the disaster and 406 needed medical care, of whom 120 were seriously injured. Healthcare professionals have been present in the affected settlements from the start, and the Government has created the Government Health Monitoring Centre, which continuously monitors the health condition of residents. In summary, it can be said that there are no signs of lasting effects from the red sludge which are injurious to health.

The greatest danger to health was during the drying out of the flood of red sludge in the weeks immediately after the tragedy, when the concentration of airborne dust particles increased. An integrated monitoring system measuring the airborne dust in the region is in operation, and the public is being kept continuously informed of the results. In the past the level of dust contamination has periodically exceeded the recommended level considered to be healthy, but it did not exceed the level considered to be dangerous, and now it is within health recommendation limits.

River water is safe and being monitored

Thanks to intensive efforts from the authorities, a more extensive environmental disaster – contamination of the Danube by alkaline red sludge – was averted. This is borne out by the measurements taken over the past year. In addition to treating water with gypsum and magnesium nitrate, eco-friendly acid was also used to neutralise pollutant in the River Rába, the Moson-Danube, and the Danube, and as well as the pH level being kept to a permanently normal level, heavy metals have been prevented from being deposited in the water. After the flood of red sludge, in order to reduce pollution in river water, water management bodies immediately dammed the Marcal river, and used a variety of techniques to neutralise the alkaline content in the water.

Directly after the tragedy the Torna brook (which runs alongside the affected settlements) was in danger, because the strongly alkaline (pH 13) red sludge flowing into it turned the water in the brook alkaline, and all aquatic life was destroyed. The pH value of the water has been restored to normal levels, the weekly average fluctuating between 8.1 and 8.29. The ecosystem of the brook is also recovering, and so damaging long-term consequences of the disaster are not expected.

The bed of the Kolontár lake has been dredged, the water has returned to natural pH levels, algal growth has restarted and frogs have appeared on the banks.

Not only is river water in the stricken area being continuously monitored, but so is drinking water. Drinking water was not contaminated at all, and was potable across the whole region from the first day of the disaster.

Central and outer areas have been reinstated

Several hundred people took part in the relief effort in residential areas, and through their persistent work within a few weeks they had made the central areas of the villages inhabitable again. A total of more than one million m³ of pollutant material has been removed from central and outer areas, and placed in the designated storage reservoir. Specialists have completed complete rehabilitation of the landscape, in order to remedy the damage caused by the red sludge. The strongly alkaline, caustic red sludge covered an area of approximately 4,000 hectares, including 1,036 hectares of agricultural land, and so the disaster caused a significant amount of damage to local agriculture. Agricultural producers and food processors who suffered loss as a result of the disaster have received one-off compensation payments from the State. The Government has offered to purchase contaminated land from owners, or offer other land in exchange.

In collaboration with the German state of Saxony there are plans to create Hungary’s largest model region for the use of renewable energy on the decontaminated land, where energy crops can be cultivated; this will also create new jobs in the region.

The operation of MAL Zrt. is now safe thanks to state supervision

The Government needed to find an immediate solution to the problem of safe operating conditions at MAL Hungarian Aluminium Production and Trade Company Zrt., the owner of the red sludge reservoir at the aluminium plant which caused the tragedy. Eight days after the tragedy the Government put the activities of the privately-owned company under state supervision, as coordinated by Government Commissioner György Bakondi.

The aluminium plant is seen as a significant player in the national economy, it is one of the largest employers in the region, and together with its suppliers it provides jobs to 6,000 people; therefore from the beginning the Government’s aim was that the company should continue to operate and produce, but that safety should be its primary consideration.

After having been put under State supervision, on 15 October last year the plant started production again, and it also received an environmental operating license, which allowed it to continue operations. As a result of the ‘pressure’ of state supervision the plant introduced dry technology in February. As a result of this, the by-product of aluminium production will not be strongly alkaline liquid red sludge, but non-caustic material of a solid consistency, just as in most other similar aluminium plants in the European Union. This means that a tragedy like that of 4 October 2010 can never occur again.

In addition to this, multi-billion-forint investments have also been made at the aluminium plant: two safety barrier dam systems have been built for the reservoirs, Reservoir 10 has been closed and reinforced, Reservoir 9 has been stabilised, the containing walls have been equipped with vibration sensors, and the plant’s entire leachate treatment system has been automated. State supervision has achieved its aims, and so it was terminated on 30 June.

The company has received a record fine, and the State is ready to take a further role in operations

The Directorate of Environmental Protection and Water Management for Central Transdanubia has imposed a fine for infringement of waste management regulations of around HUF 135.14 billion (470 million euros) on Hungarian Aluminium Production and Trade Company (MAL Zrt.). The level of the fine was arrived at in accordance with relevant legislation. The amount of the fine was arrived at through a mathematical formula which forms part of the legislation, taking account of the fact that environmental damage clearly occurred, more than 1.8 million cubic metres red sludge flooded out, and several people died as a result.

When setting the fine for infringement of waste management regulations one consideration was that environmental damage of such severity and extent had never before occurred in Hungary. MAL Zrt. must pay the fine within 15 days of the decision’s ratification as legally binding. The company may appeal to the National Directorate of Environmental Protection and Water Management within 15 days of reciept of the judgement.

In view of the record fine imposed on the privately-owned MAL Zrt., and the Government’s sense of responsibility for restoration of the region’s residential and natural environment and its economic viability, the Government will review the company’s financial situation and will do everything needed to ensure the operability and financial viability of the company – despite the high fine. In other words, it will ensure that MAL does not become inoperable as a result of the fine.

The Government has declared that the State has an interest in MAL Zrt. being able to continue to provide jobs, that its market situation stabilises and that it continues production. With appropriate management and business strategy the company can operate successfully, and by ensuring continuing operation it can repay the funds already provided by the State to meet salvage and rebuilding costs, and other costs which need to be paid to the State.

In view of the situation that has arisen, the Government is ready to pursue a solution to retain jobs by continuing discussions already carried out with the present owners and the management. Through the Hungarian State Holding Company (MNV) the State is in continuous contact with the management of the company, and since February MNV has conducted intensive negotiations with the owners regarding possible ownership restructuring.

A special inquiry is investigating responsibility for the disaster

The National Bureau of Investigation has been carrying out a high-priority and intensive inquiry to establish responsibility for the disaster; the Bureau has interviewed 15 people as suspects, all of them past and present employees, but at present nobody is in custody. The court has ruled on the cause of the disaster, but there has not been a final legally-binding decision. More than 30 legal actions have been launched by those affected, with the plaintiffs claiming a total of more than HUF 6 billion in damages from MAL Hungarian Aluminium Zrt.

Parliament will also investigate the tragedy and the privatisation of MAL Hungarian Aluminium Zrt.

Parliament set up a parliamentary committee of inquiry with the aim of determining responsibility for the environmental disaster resulting from the rupture of the red sludge reservoir near Kolontár, and of preventing other similar disasters in the future. According to the 2 October announcement of the parliamentary committee, the directors of MAL Zrt. and the regional environmental protection authority were responsible for the tragedy. According to the findings of the committee’s report, the disaster of 4 October was not natural, but industrial.

On the basis of the inquiries over the past ten months the committee is of the opinion that the operator of the plant and the environmental protection authority shall bear responsibility. It has also sent its report to the National Bureau of Investigation. In its report the committee also makes several proposals for legislative amendment, for example the strengthening of authority supervision. The report will be made public on Tuesday 4 October.

In addition to this, Parliament requested that by 31 May 2012 the Government should complete the investigation of privatisation contracts signed after the political transition of 1989 from environmental protection, safety, nature conservation and cultural heritage points of view. The Cabinet must submit the result of this investigation to Parliament by 15 June 2012.

Regulations related to hazardous materials are being tightened

The tragedy has called attention to a lack of regulatory precision – for example, the fact that the authorities qualified to inspect the red sludge reservoir did not have complete freedom of action, because the division of responsibilities was not clear. Therefore Parliament amended this law, and from December 2010 only mining authorities have been able to issue operating licences for the operation of reservoirs similar to the one at Ajka, and for hazardous operations; this will ensure firm authority, supervision and inspection.

In September Parliament adopted a new Disaster Management Act. Among other things this will make the supervision of plants dealing with materials covered by the Disaster Management Act more effective, and will introduce fines for less serious offences, extending the power of authorities to deal with plants processing hazardous materials in the lower quarter of the threshold value.

At the beginning of next year Parliament will debate a bill which will compel industrial plants to carry insurance if in the course of their operations hazardous material may be released into the environment. According to the plans, the sum paid in premiums will form a fund for the insurance companies, and from this they can pay the reinstatement costs of a disaster should one occur. The compulsory insurance will extend to damage sustained by the environment and private individuals.

News archive on the red sludge disaster: http://redsludge.bm.hu/

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)