In just a few hours, the spill, triggered when a reservoir burst, dumped sludge onto three villages at the quantity just short of the 900m litres blown-out of the BP oil well into the Gulf of Mexico over recent months.
The Party of the European Left sends its condolences to the victims of the environmental disaster in Veszprém region and to their relatives. The party is extremely concerned that the number of victims will increase as the people living in these areas don’t have protective masks and are not being advised by safety authorities on how to proceed.
Although the industrial accident has been described as a terrible ecological disaster that is currently threatening the entire ecosystem of the Danube, Europe's second longest river, very little action has been taken by the competent authorities.
Communitarian laws on environmental protection were not fulfilled. We urge the authorities and all relevant organizations to do all they can to save people and their belongings and to take urgent action to limit environmental damage. State institutions, NGOs, civil and professional organizations must unite and accept international help to limit the damage and conduct an independent investigation.
It is essential that the company and relevant authorities are held responsible for the current and future damage caused by this tragic event which seems to have resulted from non-compliance with environmental law and security standards, hidden by a system that is exclusively concerned with corporate profits and economic interests.
Hungarian News Agency (MTI) admitted that a similar environmental disaster could occur in the region of Almásfüzitő. Sources in the Hungarian Workers Party have already informed us that there are reservoirs with various toxic chemicals in extremely precarious conditions still in official use in the region of Kolontár. An environmentaldisaster from the Danube to the Black Sea could be imminent.
Devecser has tragically demonstrated that the method of storage used for decades entails major risks. The specific storage mode was highly exposed to changes in the natural conditions. However the catastrophe in Devecser represents a small part of the real danger when compared with the risks posed by red mud storage around the towns of Neszmély, Dunaalmás and Almásfüzítő.
As a result of this ecological catastrophe all the drinking water sites along the river could be contaminated, including supplies at Szentendre that provide the capital, Budapest, and many other regions and countries. Serbia, Croatia, and Romania are already putting together emergency plans.
Lothar Bisky, President of the European Left
Brussels, 11 October 2010