Europe under threat from massive chemical spill

What a joke. I dont even wanna think what that is going to do except speed things up...
2nd

reply to post by carlitomoore


While i agree that Fluoride in Toothpaste is not great... i don’t remember Toothpaste ever doing this...


www.bbc.co.uk...


As someone else pointed out... The sludge had now reached the Danube.

It is killing all the life that is in its path... Fish, frogs, insects etc...all dead... farmland reduced to wasteland... This is a major disaster!

Just heard on Sky News that there are exteremly high levels for Mercury and Arsenic present in the sludgeand that it is the size of the Gulf Oil Spill. It has leaked into the water supply and now into the Danube. The ph of the river is not at 8,2 and runs the risk of killing its ecosystem. They are pumping some kind of chemical into the river to keep its ph low.

This aint looking good at all.

The first thing i thought of was the dam thats literally 2.5 kilometres from my house. Basically im assuming thats how all companys store this stuff.

To see another dam known as "Red Mud Dam" type in the fly to section in google earth "Boyne Island Australia" basically this dam has direct access to the rives and ocean been on the coastline

I knew this stuff was a waste product but I doubt many people knew it was this bad.

Originally posted by snowspirit
There was lots on this morning's news about this. There was someone from the EU explaining how each country it hits has to ask for help, no one is allowed to just step in because of sovereignty. It's a shame countries do not ask for help on time. Now the sludge is in the Danube, land red, rivers red.

This is very bad.

Imagine being a country down river, knowing it's going to devastate your country's water supply and not being able to do anything until it's too late.

reply to post by Muckster


I do agree Muckster that this is a disaster, but it is equally disastorous that people are shocked by this, yet they use thse compounds every day .It is really really sad.

reply to post by Muckster


This is only getting worse. Is a nuclear power plant also slowly leaking harmlessly away?

Dobson told the AP that 100,000 cubic meters (26 million gallons) of fluid from a storage pond close to the burst reservoir was being gradually released Friday into a local river already declared dead after Monday's environmental catastrophe. Gypsum was being dropped into the Marcal River from helicopters to neutralize the alkaline effect of the fluid, he said. It is still not known what caused a section of the reservoir to collapse.
However, meteorologists at AccuWeather.com noted that spring and summer rains across eastern Europe were more than 200 percent above normal and said the walls holding back the sludge may have been weakened by the rain.

reply to post by carlitomoore


I'll tell you what... why don’t we have an argument about something we both agree on LOL

I'm just kidding... i agree with what you are saying completely... but i must admit i sounded defensive... sorry, and we are both right

When this flood dries the deposits will be entrained by the wind (aeolian deposits) for people to breath in.

This will cause health problems for years to come.

Those entrained.deposits will land in rivers and streams further afield and contaminate more water supplies..

This has quickly become an international disaster

reply to post by Yissachar1


Is there any Word on how this Ecological Disaster happened in the first place ? Was it just an unfortunate Accident , or possiblly a Deliberate Act of Sabotage ? I also am Wondering about the Political ramifications of this amoung the EU States, and whether or not it could be used to futher surpress Personal Freedoms amoung the peoples of the effected areas .

I dont understand how this sludge keeps traveling, wouldent the terrain stop it and absorbed by the soil. This thing is moving miles like it has a mind of its own.

Also howmany Km/squared could this volume of sludge cover, there must be an equation on this

This is horrible news and my heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to all in Hungary and outlying areas who may or have been affected by this. You are all in my thoughts.

for those that think this is nothing think again.

Surprising' arsenic levels

However, the BBC's Duncan Kennedy in the affected region says there is an additional concern - the weather. Recent days of rain have kept the sludge wet and officials now fear that warmer and sunnier weather will create dust that could spread toxins - and possibly low-level radioactive materials - into the atmosphere.
If that happens, our correspondent says, the authorities will have to decide whether to evacuate more areas. They have already urged locals to wear masks.

Environment Minister Zoltan Illes confirmed that the sludge - which now covers a 41 sq km (16 sq mile) area - had a "high content of heavy metals", including carcinogens.
Quote Niki Barta Resident of Kolontar

"If that [were to] dry out then the wind can blow that heavy metal contamination through the respiratory system," he said.

Greenpeace said samples of the sludge it took on Tuesday contained "surprisingly high" levels of arsenic and mercury. It said the detected arsenic concentration was twice the amount normally found in sludge. "We are afraid that the arsenic might go into the groundwater and pollute the drinking water in the area. This is a serious problem when we are thinking about the long term effects," one of Greenpeace's scientists, Herwig Schuster, told the BBC. "We fear the mercury will go down the rivers and enter the foodchain."

Hungary sludge of death in pictures

what i find intresting,is the gapping hole in the dam picture,almost like its been cut,and you get a idea of how big this is,by how small the car and people are in the background.
its the 2nd pic in,i belive.

Have there been any solutions presented for the problem?

Maybe some of the ideas suggested for the Gulf oil spill could work here? I wonder if the EU governments would be more willing to try them out...

I guess the only way is to introduce more chemicals that would bind to those already infecting the water? Like flocculation used in mining.

"And the rivers will turn red with (as) blood."

Think about it.

Originally posted by DeepestOne
I dont understand how this sludge keeps traveling, wouldent the terrain stop it and absorbed by the soil. This thing is moving miles like it has a mind of its own.

Also howmany Km/squared could this volume of sludge cover, there must be an equation on this

The last i heard it had covered an area of 600,000 m2. This toxic sludge came from a reservoir...why was it even in the reservoir??? Unless i'm picking up the story wrong, the sludge was deposited by a local aluminium works...

Can anyone clarify?

reply to post by jrmcleod


From what I understand, the reservoir was a run off or drying pond (think sewerage farm) for the by-products of the factory.

reply to post by SerialLurker


Thanks for the info...helps me understand it a bit more!

Hungary is now bracing itself for a second wave of sludge...

www.bbc.co.uk...

Prime Minister Viktor Orban said it was "very likely" that an entire wall of the reservoir would collapse, releasing a fresh wave of chemical effluent.

Mr Orban also said there would be "very severe" consequences for those to blame for the disaster.

It's not looking good!!

reply to post by Muckster


I saw this on Sky News this morning, and thought back to your thread. Sorry if I seemed offensive, as you said, we both agree!

This is going to get a lot worse, how much more can the Worlds water system take!?