Another red sludge escape threatens

DEVECSER, Hungary – The cracking wall of an industrial plant reservoir appeared on the verge of collapse late today, and engineers were working to blunt a possible second wave of the caustic red sludge that has already deluged several towns in western Hungary and killed seven.
Residents of one nearby town were evacuated, others were ordered to be ready to evacuate, and everyone was bracing for a new onslaught of toxic material.
“If another wave comes, I was thinking of standing on top of the kitchen table,” said Maria Gyori, a 79-year-old homemaker in the town of Devecser. Maybe the sludge won’t go that high.”
Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the northern wall of MAL Rt’s storage pool, which released at least 700 000 cubic metres (184 million gallons) of caustic red sludge and water five days ago after one of its corners ruptured, was showing numerous cracks and seemed ready to fail completely.
“Because it may happen at any moment, but it’s also possible that it won’t happen . . . there’s only one thing we can do – we have to behave as if this could happen any minute,” Orban told reporters in Budapest. “There’s no technical equipment that could really stop this process and the only thing we can do is prepare ourselves to stop the damage it would cause.”