The Danube River in Budapest is flooded with red toxic sludge spilled from an aluminum plant in Western Hungary. Four people have lost their lives, six remain missing, 123 were injured, 280 homes are flooded and inhabitable. This toxic sludge causes burns or blindness when in contact with skin or eyes. As of Monday, the spill was covering 40 square kilometers causing the government to declare a state of emergency. WWF-Hungary is warning that the environmental impacts could be longer lasting, but others assure the contaminated water will pass through the Danube and cause no ecological harm. The cause of the spill is still under investigation and because the disaster had no natural causes people are believed to be at fault.
This news sounds very similar to what happened with the Gulf oil spill at a much smaller scale and perhaps not as harmful to the environment. Who really is at fault with this things? What measures were taken by the aluminum plant to discard of toxic materials properly or keep them contained and under control? I believe this to be a human accident that could affect the environment long term, but for one that we should all be blamed thanks to our needs for industrial and chemical plants.
Link to site: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2010/2010-10-06-01.html
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