Toxic mining disasters 'loom in eastern Europe'
A red sludge storage facility is seen near Kolontar, 160 km west of Budapest, Hungary -- the site of a deadly red mud toxic spill in 2010. Toxic mining disasters loom in eastern Europe as the European Union has failed to pass legislation a year after Hungary's lethal toxic mud spill, an environmentalist group said.
Toxic mining disasters loom in eastern Europe as the European Union has failed to pass legislation a year after Hungary's lethal toxic mud spill, an environmentalist group said on Monday.
"Hungary has let its presidency of the EU pass without taking any action to defuse further ticking time bombs in Central and Eastern Europe," said Gabor Figeczky, the head of WWF in Hungary, which chaired the 27-member union in the first half of 2011.
Prior to the first anniversary of Hungary's biggest ever environmental diseaster the organisation demanded that Brussels draw up an action plan to ensure the EU's existing rules on mining waste were applied.
"The EU directive which was introduced in 2006 is in principle good, but must now be effectively implemented," said Figeckzy.
In September, Hungarian authoritites slapped a massive fine of 135 billion forints (470 million euros) on the alumina plant MAL Zrt responsible for the spill which killed 10 people and sent 1.1 million cubic metres (38.8 million cubic feet) of toxic red mud cascading into surrounding villages.
WWF said that sum should be used not only for compensation but also "to identify other time bombs still ticking in Hungary".
It warned that potentially dangerous toxic waste dumps existed all over the former communist bloc.
Last week, environmental pressure group Greenpeace staged a protest against the storage of dangerous substances at another red mud reservoir in Hungary, demanding its immediate closure.
(c) 2011 AFP
-
From lemons to lemonade: Reaction uses carbon dioxide to make carbon-based semiconductor,
32 comments
-
Thioridazine kills cancer stem cells in human while avoiding toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments,
3 comments
-
SpaceX private rocket blasts off for space station (Update),
42 comments
-
Climate scientists say they have solved riddle of rising sea,
31 comments
-
SpaceX capsule has 'new car' smell, astronauts say (Update),
3 comments
-
Hypothetical desert earth
16 hours ago
-
More human population = greater mass?
May 25, 2012
-
Conversion from aircraft bearing to normal degrees
May 23, 2012
-
Interpretation/Analysis of the Lab results(HEPA filter)
May 22, 2012
-
Has anyone here attended the The Urbino Summer School in Paleoclimatology?
May 22, 2012
-
Earthquakes: Mag 6 N. Italy and Mag 5.6 W. Bulgaria
May 21, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Earth
More news stories
Yale study concludes public apathy over climate change unrelated to science literacy
Are members of the public divided about climate change because they don't understand the science behind it? If Americans knew more basic science and were more proficient in technical reasoning, would public consensus match ...
1 hour ago |
not rated yet |
8
|
10 million years needed to recover from mass extinction
It took some 10 million years for Earth to recover from the greatest mass extinction of all time, latest research has revealed.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
1 hour ago |
not rated yet |
1
|
Sophisticated simulations predict future warming
The chances of our planet being hit by a global warming of 3 degrees Celsius by 2050 is as likely as it being hit by an increase of 1.4 degrees, new research shows. Presented in the journal Nature Geoscience, the British study ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 22, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (9) |
51
Aliens don't want to eat us, says former SETI director
Alien life probably isn’t interested in having us for dinner, enslaving us or laying eggs in our bellies, according to a recent statement by former SETI director Jill Tarter.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
May 25, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (14) |
39
Kyoto Protocol architect 'frustrated' by climate dialogue
UN climate talks are going nowhere, as politicians dither or bicker while the pace of warming dangerously speeds up, one of the architects of the Kyoto Protocol told AFP.
May 23, 2012 |
3.7 / 5 (7) |
39
'Unzipped' carbon nanotubes could help energize fuel cells, batteries
Multi-walled carbon nanotubes riddled with defects and impurities on the outside could replace some of the expensive platinum catalysts used in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, according to scientists at ...
T cells 'hunt' parasites like animal predators seek prey, study shows
By pairing an intimate knowledge of immune-system function with a deep understanding of statistical physics, a cross-disciplinary team at the University of Pennsylvania has arrived at a surprising finding: T cells use a movement ...
Computer model used to pinpoint prime materials for efficient carbon capture
When power plants begin capturing their carbon emissions to reduce greenhouse gases – and to most in the electric power industry, it's a question of when, not if – it will be an expensive undertaking.
Change in developmental timing was crucial in the evolutionary shift from dinosaurs to birds: study
At first glance, it's hard to see how a common house sparrow and a Tyrannosaurus Rex might have anything in common. After all, one is a bird that weighs less than an ounce, and the other is a dinosaur that ...
Same gene that stunts infants' growth also makes them grow too big: research
UCLA geneticists have identified the mutation responsible for IMAGe* syndrome, a rare disorder that stunts infants' growth. The twist? The mutation occurs on the same gene that causes Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, which makes ...
Scientists develop ultra-sensitive test that detects diseases in their earliest stages
Scientists have developed an ultra-sensitive test that should enable them to detect signs of a disease in its earliest stages, in research published today in the journal Nature Materials.
