Court Orders Hungarian Firm Is To Be Dismantled...

These trees show the height/depth of the red mud spill.

The APSB mainly posts stories about incidents that occur in plants in the aluminium industry. This story is different, involving red mud a byproduct (waste) of the Bayer process of refining bauxite into alumina. This incident sent shock waves throughout the industry which reverberate today.

On October 4, 2010 a caustic waste reservoir (red mud) in Western Hungary failed. The Northwestern corner of the dam at reservoir number 10 collapsed, free approximately one million cubic meter of liquid waster. The release resulted in a 1-2 meter wave, flooding several nearby towns and villages. At least nine people died, and 122 people were injured. Over 40 square kilometers of land were initially affected. Here is a recent story on the incident:

MAL Hungarian Aluminium Ltd is to be dismantled by state-owned liquidator Nemzeti Reorganizációs Nonprofit by court order, the National Development Ministry said on Wednesday. The firm behind the lethal “red mud” toxic waste spill of October 2010 has been in an impossible financial position since local environmental authorities fined it a record HUF 140 billion (EUR 472.45 million) last year. MAL, whose bauxite refinery in the western town of Ajka is the main employer in the area, was declared a company of strategic importance last September. Directors and senior management are on trial facing charges of gross negligence. The Hungarian National Asset Management Company (MNV) will provide funds to maintain operation during restructuring, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, MAL has wound up production at its bauxite mine in Halimba in the northwest, the chief operating officer told state news agency MTI. The firm earlier announced that 200 workers would be laid off due to the closure of the unprofitable mine. MAL, whose aluminium production plants were set up during communist-era industrialisation, has hitherto mined some 80 per cent of its bauxite, aluminium ore, in Hungary.

It also has lost an appeal against a compensation order. A Budapest court of second instance ruled on Tuesday that MAL Ltd must pay a retired soldier HUF 23 million (EUR 77,830). He had sued after his home was ruined by a wave of caustic chemical waste that spilled from a huge storage pool near the western town of Ajka.

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