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Toxic Red Sludge Disaster Hits Hungary
Oh God! The Hungarian government has declared a state of emergency after a million cubic feet's worth of toxic red sludge spilled out of a ruptured waste reservoir at an aluminum plant 100 miles southwest of Budapest. The nasty goop has spread across 15.4 square miles and killed five people and injured many other and threatens to contaminate the Danube. So this is sort of like the volcano and the oil spill meet Three Mile Island?
BUT ARE THE GAWKER.COM SERVERS OKAY?????
is this a trick question?
How appropriate that their toxic sludge disaster is paprika-colored.
You know, I have always said that Hungary needs to find a more sustainable way of disposing its paprika. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened.
A serious STALKER vibe from this.
For a report on the "Innovative methodologies for the utilization of wastes from metallurgical and allied industries" see: http://infolib.hua.edu.vn/Fulltext/ChuyenDe2009/CD305/23.pdf
It says in part: "2.1.1. The red mud problem Red mud or bauxite tailings produced during alkali leaching of bauxite by the Bayer process have continued to be one of the prime concerns of aluminum industry from [Ha ha] the point of view of resource conservation and protection of the environment. For every ton of alumina produced, 1-1.5 tons of red mud is generated as a waste. It is estimated that nearly 90 million tons of red mud is produced annually worldwide, and presently in India alone nearly 3 million tones red mud is generated (Kumar et al., 1998, 2005b). Most of the alumina plants dispose of red mud either in the nearby ponds or it is dumped at sea."
In Jamaica, bauxite and alumina and the raw materials used in the production of aluminum, are the country's main exports, and fairly well hidden from the tourists. Because the island lacks sources of cheap energy, the final and most profitable conversion process that turns bauxite/alumina into aluminum must take place overseas. For more info see http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2010/09/21/jamaica-noranda-plans-to-dredge-pier-at-discovery-bay/
Reminds me of the Kingston, TN, ash slurry containment spill. This spread much further (and is a much more exciting color), but the TN disaster seems to have spilled more (~4 million cubic meters). Terrible both.
You know, ash slurry sounds like something invented on The Simpsons, but I know its not :(
Nope, all too real. Bad, but there aren't a whole lot of alternatives (economically or otherwise). The idea is mixing ash and water, the component parts separate over time, fractions skimmed off the retaining pools periodically. The pools are supposed to be lined with impermeable layers (clay mostly) and the walls definitely aren't supposed to collapse…but if these things aren't well regulated… corners and costs are cut.
It's one of the advantages of gasification. More of the waste is converted into a "glass-like" slag (another term I had fun throwing around as much as possible in meetings), effectively trapping the bad stuff. The slag doesn't readily react or seep into groundwater, etc.