Uneasy flows the Danube

The area around the western Hungarian village of Ajka has been bathed in the earth’s blood. The reason for the apocalyptic appearance was a breach in the banks of a reservoir of red sludge, the byproduct of turning bauxite into alumina, a form of aluminium oxide. The perilous location of the reservoir — located on a hill overshadowing the localities of Kolontar, Devecser and Solmovasarhely — aggravated the situation, causing almost one million cubic meters of sludge to storm through, sweeping away people, livestock and various possessions in its wake. As a result of the caustic “mini-tsunami,” as some local residents have refered to the event, nine people have died, over 150 are injured, and thousands have been evacuated.

Life is slowly returning back to normal in the affected areas, and the Hungarian government has given the green light to the local population’s return. Some experts question the prudence of this decision. One of them is Gergely Simon, chief environmental chemist at the Levego Munkacsoport (Clean Air Action Group), a leading Hungarian environmental NGO, whom I met in Kyiv on his way to a conference in Kazakhstan.

Mr. Simon explained that, despite the shocking appearance of the affected areas, the Hungarian government’s actions were appropriate. Indeed, without the use of gypsum and acid to dilute the alkaline mix the environmental repercussions would have been much greater. The pH scale, used to measure the acidity of a compound, is logarithmic. Hence, in order to bring the recorded level of 13 down to a neutral 7 (the pH scale goes from 1 to 14, the lower values being acid and the higher ones alkaline, 7 is neutral. – Author), “one would have had to dilute each liter of sludge in 100,000 liters of water” Simon explained.

Although the actual actions of the Hungarian government may have been correct, its information policy was nothing of this kind but. Mr. Simon explained that the first values released, and meant to assuage fears, were based on measurements from 1987 and thus irrelevant. The government’s message was then seconded by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, this time using information from 2003. This data did not even include measurements for arsenic — one of the main toxic compounds to have been found in dangerous quantities in Greenpeace’s studies from two days after the accident. Unsurprisingly, the academy’s subsequent measurements, released on October 15, confirmed the environmental NGO’s findings. However, as Simon related, the conclusions of the official inquiry were once again off, as they compared their findings with limit values for the sludge (a toxic matter by definition), rather than for air and soil values. As a result, he remains concerned about the fate of the local population, which may now be exposed to a toxic dust that is forming from the drying sludge. In The Days following the accident the Hungarian government nationalized the MAL Hungarian Aluminum, the enterprise responsible for the plant, and arrested the company’s managing director Zoltan Bakonyi on suspicion of criminal negligence (Mr. Bakonyi was later released without charge). However, those charges may yet resurface, as a number of shady issues have yet to be investigated. The first of them is the deal that was made during the privatization of the 1990s. Simon explained that “the industrial assets privatized in 1995 were estimated at some four billion dollars. But they were actually sold for three million, with an agreement that in return three billion dollars be invested in environmental protection for the sites.” How much of that sum was actually invested is anyone’s guess.

What makes the issue even murkier are the ties between MAL’s top brass and various politicians. MAL’s president Lajos Tolnay was notably a business partner of Hungary’s former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany. While Hungary’s current Prime Minister Viktor Orban has pledged to fight shady business practices, his own record is unclear at best, and some point to his past relations with Tolnay, claiming that he is just as unprincipled as his predecessor. The actual business of MAL is also somewhat eyebrow-raising. As Mr. Simon explained, extremely alkaline level of 13,5 pH measured at the site caused the Associated Press to challenge the data. Simon told me about an email he had received where they quoted the American Aluminium Association as having explained that such a value is practically impossible, as the sludge is washed five to seven times, thus reducing the pH level and toxicity. Clearly, American standards do not hold in Hungary.

Another reason behind the accident is the inherent vulnerability of the sludge reservoirs themselves. Such reservoirs resemble artificial lakes, large bodies of fluid surrounded by nothing but earthen embankments, albeit typically fortified with ash. This means that toxins can seep into the soil and ground waters, and that the amount of toxic sludge, and hence the pressure on the dams, varies considerably with the level of rainfall (as in the case of this year’s particularly wet summer). Interestingly, as Mr. Simon showed me during our conversation, one can find such sites with almost uncanny ease with the use of the Google Earth. Even from several kilometers away the bright red spots appearing on the map are likely to be some from of reservoir for industrial pollutants. He estimated the value of safe storage of one ton of red sludge at 50 to 100 thousand forints (some 250-500 dollars), which means that Hungary, which currently houses some 30 millions of the matter, may be in for expenses north of 10 billion dollars. Unless this sum is quickly invested (in addition to other expenses linked to environmental protection) future incidents may not be far off.

Unfortunately, the Danube region (and Central Eastern Europe in general) is no stranger to such environmental disasters. Back in 2000 two major ecological disasters hit the Baia Mare region in Romania in less than two months. The first of these was a massive cyanide spill from the Aurul gold mine into the Vaser, which flows through the Tisza into the Danube. Hungarian officials, whose country bore the brunt of the assault, described it to the BBC as “the worst environmental disaster to afflict the region since the leak from Ukraine’s nuclear power station in 1986.” Bad as this event was, experts said that the subsequent spill of zinc and lead, both of which are heavy metals with long-term impacts on the environment, was even more serious.

Nor does the future look much brighter. The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, a Vienna-based international organization focusing on the region’s environment, has identified some 160 hotspots throughout the Danube region, 40 of which are considered to be of high risk. One of the most menacing sites is located at Almasfuzito, some 60 km northeast of Budapest (slightly over 100 km following the river’s track). As Mr. Simon explained, the reservoir there contains some 12 million tons of the red mud, and, when the river swells, the waters of the Danube rise and flood the terrain around the container. Should the walls be breached there the toxic waste will spill directly into the Danube, ruining the Hungarian capital’s supply of drinking water. Levego has been warning the government about this and similar threats for over seven years now, with little avail.

The spill also raised concerns about the effect on the Danube Delta, to which the contaminated waters of the Torna river near Ajka eventually flow. The delta itself is divided between Romania and Ukraine (although the bulk of it is located on the Romanian side a great deal of the delta’s most valuable wetlands are found in Ukraine). It covers a huge area of unique wetlands — a habitat of critical importance for flora and fauna alike — that has been registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In addition to pollutants, this fragile environment is also threatened by the construction of the deepwater canal through the Danube’s Bystre branch. Up until the late 1950s Ukraine used the Bystre Canal (also known as the Danube-Black Sea Canal) in order to access the Central European river system. Since then the canal has been silted. In 2004 the Ukrainian government was to begin reviving the canal, which led to a diplomatic spat with Romania (which controls the other access points, notably the Sulina branch) and protests by environmental activists around the world. The dredging of the canal became the subject of a fierce legal battle between the Ukrainian government and one of Ukraine’s leading environmental NGOs, Environment People Law, whose legal team was led by the firebrand young lawyer Olya Melen. Ms. Melen took on the government with such verve that it was set aback, and eventually halted work on the canal. In recognition for her efforts to save this unique natural heritage of mankind, Ms. Melen was awarded with the prestigious Goldman Prize for grassroots environmental activists in 2006. However, work on the canal resumed shortly after.

“The Ukrainian government plans to continue construction and operation of the Black-Sea canal through the Bystre arm,” says Ms. Melen. “The money is lacking all the time and there were unsuccessful attempts to ask for money from the EU. Thus, the canal operates, but maintenance dredging requires lots of financial resources that are often not available. Unsystematic dredging is deteriorating navigation conditions and thus making our canal less attractive due to sedimentation and shallow waters.” Ms. Melen further told The Day that she doubted the EU will provide for the work within the framework of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (the EU’s project to develop the region’s infrastructure. – Author), but that the Ukrainian government will pursue the Bystre Canal project nonetheless.

It appears that this time the delta has averted disaster. Tests conducted by the ICPDR in Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, and Serbia have so far shown pH levels close to normal. Nevertheless Ms. Melen highlights the vulnerability of the area: “[the] Danube delta is very sensitive area and pollution would really have drastic effect due to several factors: 1) Sediments will accumulate pollutants and keep them for a long time, polluting living resources and plants, 2) drinking water supply might be affected by pollution, ground wate1rs will be affected easily and thus water from wells would pose a threat to humans; 3) polluted fish will enter the food chain and thus pose a threat to humans and birds (and other animals), 4) a temporary ban on fishing will undermine local economy and sources of income for fishermen’s families.” In all appearance the future of Europe’s second longest river will be no pleasure cruise.