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Hungarian Prime Minister Says Sludge Reservoir Wall 'Likely' to Collapse

   VOA News 09 October 2010
   In  this  photo  made available 09 Oct 2010, police and army officials
   are  helping  during  the  evacuation  of western Hungary's village of
   Kolontar, 08 Oct 2010

Photo: AP

   In  this  photo  made available 09 Oct 2010, police and army officials
   are  helping  during  the  evacuation  of western Hungary's village of
   Kolontar, 08 Oct 2010

   Hungary's  prime  minister  says  the  wall of a sludge reservoir that
   burst  and  flooded several towns with toxic waste is "very likely" to
   collapse.
   Viktor  Orban  said the reservoir wall is showing visible cracks.  He
   said  about  500,000  cubic  meters of the corrosive material would be
   released if the wall falls.
   Orban made the comments Saturday after authorities evacuated Kolontar,
   which is near the damaged reservoir.
   Hungarian  authorities  say  Monday's  reservoir  break  released some
   700,000 cubic meters of caustic mud.
   Hungarian  Interior  Minister  Sandor  Pinter  said Friday the escaped
   sludge has not affected the drinking water supply and was not a threat
   to the Danube River.
   However,  the  environmental group Greenpeace said tests showed a high
   concentration  of  heavy metals in the sludge and arsenic levels twice
   as high as what is normally found in aluminum plant runoff.
   The  sludge  has devastated three Hungarian villages west of Budapest,
   the capital, and killed seven people.  More than 120 people have been
   injured.
   The  Hungarian  aluminum  company  that owns the plant where the spill
   occurred  has  rejected  criticism  that  it  failed  to  take  proper
   precautions at the reservoir.
   Interior  Minister  Pinter  said  authorities  have  begun questioning
   witnesses  to  the spill to learn about the reservoir's operations and
   maintenance procedures.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

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