Hungarian authorities Monday, arrested the managing director of the Hungarian company whose reservoir containing toxic red sludge broke one week ago spilling a flood of toxic waste over three nearby villages.
Zoltan Bakonyi, executive of the aluminum company MAL Co., was arrested on suspicion of negligence leading to public endangerment and environmental damage. Bakonyi told local media he did not break any rules as inspections of the reservoir had shown no abnormalities.
“We have well-founded reasons to believe that there were people who knew about the dangerous weakening of the reservoir wall, but for personal reasons they thought it wasn’t worth repairing and hoped there'd be no trouble,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told lawmakers on Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Orban put forth a proposal in Parliament Monday that the company and its assets be put under state control to be managed by an appointed state commissioner.
“Since this is not a natural catastrophe but damage brought about by people, the damages must be paid first and foremost not by taxpayers but by those who caused the damage,” Orban said.
The red sludge is a waste product of aluminum production mixed with rainwater. The spill volume was an estimated 200 million gallons, which surged down a local stream reaching a height of 6.5 feet at some points.
On Monday, eight people were confirmed dead as a result of the spill.
More cracks in the reservoir dam have prompted officials to say a second flood is expected. An emergency dam, 8.8 feet high and 680 yards long, is under construction and is expected to be ready Tuesday.
People in the worst-hit village, Kolontar, with a population of around 1,000, have been evacuated in fear of a second dam breach.
Zoltan Bakonyi, executive of the aluminum company MAL Co., was arrested on suspicion of negligence leading to public endangerment and environmental damage. Bakonyi told local media he did not break any rules as inspections of the reservoir had shown no abnormalities.
“We have well-founded reasons to believe that there were people who knew about the dangerous weakening of the reservoir wall, but for personal reasons they thought it wasn’t worth repairing and hoped there'd be no trouble,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told lawmakers on Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Orban put forth a proposal in Parliament Monday that the company and its assets be put under state control to be managed by an appointed state commissioner.
“Since this is not a natural catastrophe but damage brought about by people, the damages must be paid first and foremost not by taxpayers but by those who caused the damage,” Orban said.
The red sludge is a waste product of aluminum production mixed with rainwater. The spill volume was an estimated 200 million gallons, which surged down a local stream reaching a height of 6.5 feet at some points.
On Monday, eight people were confirmed dead as a result of the spill.
More cracks in the reservoir dam have prompted officials to say a second flood is expected. An emergency dam, 8.8 feet high and 680 yards long, is under construction and is expected to be ready Tuesday.
People in the worst-hit village, Kolontar, with a population of around 1,000, have been evacuated in fear of a second dam breach.
