Company director charged for toxic flood

The New York Times:

Budapest — The managing director of the company whose reservoir unleashed a lethal torrent of red sludge on three villages last week has been arrested, the Hungarian prime minister announced before Parliament on Monday.

He will be charged with criminal negligence leading to a public catastrophe, and if convicted could face a sentence of up to 10 years, according to a government spokeswoman.

The arrested man, Zoltan Bakonyi, works for MAL Zrt, the Hungarian Aluminum Production and Trade Company. He was not available for comment and a spokeswoman for Mal Zrt did not return phone calls.

A week ago, nearly 200 million gallons of toxic red mud — a byproduct of the conversion of bauxite to alumina, for aluminum — poured out of a reservoir after part of its containing wall collapsed, killing eight people and injuring hundreds more. Hundreds of people have been forced from their homes, and tens of millions of dollars in private property have been destroyed.

Updating Parliament on the government’s response, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said a new emergency law would be enacted in order to bring MAL Zrt under state control. He said a state commissioner would be appointed to manage the company and its assets.

As custodian of the company, he said the government would make sure it paid for damages. He said the government would also focus on saving jobs and identifying further risky industrial sites.

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