[ad_1]
A decade ago, in October torn apart the dam of the red mud storage facility established between Kolontár and Ajka of the Ajka Alumina Factory owned by Magyar Alumínium Termelő és Kereskedelmi Zrt. Caustic is which It flooded Kolontár, Devecsert and Somlóvásárhely, not only changed the lives of the villages, but also caused enormous damage to natural values.
The alkali made its way to the west and southwest, reaching the Torna stream and then destroying human lives and houses in Kolontár and Devecser.
Even years later, signs of disaster could be seen. In trees and houses, the reddish-brown color was conspicuous, showing the path to where the alkali flowed.
The water of Torna stream now runs peacefully. Here and there a fish appears zigzagging rapidly in the translucent water, as if the toxic red liquid had never surprised the stream.
István Csonki, the head of the Central Water Directorate of Transdanubia, also reports to us. That’s that
the original natural life has been restored.
The specialist still remembers the natural disaster, the seriousness of the situation was indicated by the fact that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also visited the place in person.
Tibor Dobson, the on-site spokesperson for the settlement at the time, said ten years ago:
All the wildlife in the Marcal River became extinct and the extremely high pH from the red mud contamination destroyed everything.
He added that to save wildlife on the Rába and the Danube, the pH had to be lowered below nine. From then on, the goal was to save the Rába and the Danube. It was feared that caustic alkali would enter the Rába with the Torna stream and the Marcal river, and from there could cause serious damage to the Hungarian fauna of the Danube.
The luck of the misfortune was that the larger fish were able to escape from the alkali ”, continues István Csonki, who explains why no fish carcasses were found in the area flooded with red mud.
“The alkali decomposed in a relatively short time, and since it couldn’t seep into deeper layers, it was also enough to scrape the bed.”
According to the news of the time, the experts tried to reduce the very strong alkaline pH with acetic acid and gypsum, among others, which were dumped into the river at four points. –but it failed to prevent ecological catastrophe.
2. 3
Gallery: Kolontár, a town suffocated in mudPhoto: István Huszti / Index
Today, there are those who bathe with their children in the once polluted Marcal. Nature conservationist Gergely Aczél primarily researches birds along the river, but she can also tell a lot about the river’s wildlife.
“From my childhood, I still remember catching crayfish, I can’t find more today. But this is not necessarily the result of the disaster ten years ago. “
The fishermen also sensed fifteen or twenty years ago that toxic material had entered Torna Creek at Ajka and from there to Marcal. In the same way, there were times when fish populations almost completely disappeared from the river. It was then that they knew that this was how Ajka disposed of unwanted toxic substances.
Tamás Karácsony, a professional fishing guard, also confirms this.
“We didn’t need news or the phone and the Internet to find out what happened in Ajka. It was enough to see that there were fewer fish in the Marcal. But these were only short periods due to the river AND AGAIN populated fish “.
Marcal has now been revived. There are many carp, bream, grass carp or pike in the river, but you can also fish for bream, compote and perch, continues Tamás Karácsony. In his opinion, the waters of the Marcal may now be clearer than even in some sections of the Danube.
Ten years after the natural disaster
They don’t have to worry about the people living in the area getting hit by the mud again.
Cassette number two of the tank was closed and a double protection was also installed, with a concrete wall and a so-called neutralizing liquid.
Top image: A drone shot of the Devecser development built after the September 30, 2015 disaster. October 4 will be the fifth anniversary of the red mud disaster. MTI Photo: István Ruzsa
Due to the sensitivity of the subject of this article, we do not consider it ethical to place ads.
Detailed information can be found in the Indamedia Group’s brand safety statement.
[ad_2]
