A massive flood of toxic red sludge in Hungary reached the Danube River on Thursday. Hundreds of millions of gallons of red sludge was released Monday when a collection reservoir broke at an aluminum plant in western Hungary. Officials claimed a concerted effort to weaken the toxicity of the red sludge by the time it reached the Danube was working.
Contaminating the Danube with red sludge
Most are worried that toxic sludge will end up contaminating the Danube River which is Europe’s second longest waterway. The toxic sludge came because a reservoir had been breached 100 miles west of Budapest near the town of Ajka at the Ajkai Timfoldgyar Zrt alumina plant. CNN accounts that the ecological catastrophe killed two kids, an elderly woman and a 35-year-old man trapped in a vehicle overwhelmed by the flash flood of toxic sludge. Then you will find the three missing individuals. About 250 people were evacuated. The red sludge got into the river before the breached reservoir could get the leak stopped and repaired.
Attempting to thin down poisonous flood in Danube
The Danube River only has one chance of surviving really. Tributaries diluted the dangerous sludge which should help a lot. You will find no more fish alive within the Marcal River which got the majority of the toxic spill. Tibor Dobson told this to Reuters as the Hungarian catastrophe response spokesman. Some fish survived by the time the red sludge reached the Monsoni-Danube rivers. Emergency crews tried to dilute the sludge to cut back its alkalinity, which registered at a highly-caustic pH of 13 when the toxic flood was unleashed. Many hoped that the pH would go down a lot before hitting the Raba. This did not happen at a pH of 9 to 10 was measured there.
High alkalinity in dangerous sludge
Aluminum production is where the dangerous red sludge came from as industrial waste. It carried heavy metals and processing chemicals due to this. Paul Younger, a professor at Newcastle University told the BBC that strong alkalinity is the major issue. A to 5 pH is fairly acidic. A pH of 6 or 8 is neutral. Hot tubs and swimming pools ought to have a pH of 7, which is considered safe. The toxic sludge is at a pH of 9. That is where the digestive system and lungs can be severely injured. Younger compared the millions of gallons of toxic sludge that hit the Danube River with kitchen cleaning goods that could dissolve a top layer of skin with extended contact.
Citations
CNN
cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/10/07/hungary.toxic/index.html?npt=NP1
Reuters
reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69415O20101007?pageNumber=2
BBC
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11492387
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