Toxic red sludge engulfs west Hungary

Published on 6 October 2010 at 11:37

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“Environmental disaster: state of emergency in three counties,” headlines Népszabadság, two days after a toxic reservoir at an alumina plant burst in Ajka, in western Hungary, releasing a torrent of caustic red sludge. The paper, which devotes several articles to the story, blames human negligence for the disaster.Komment.hu deplores the fact that, “under pressure from the EU, Hungary spends colossal sums on getting people to sort their household refuse, which doesn’t even account for 5% of the trash”, while failing to apply safety measures in the processing of industrial waste, a “true time bomb”.

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