Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 3.1 The active Budafok Metalworks in the 1970s.
once chemical contaminants enter their habitat. When the microbiota has adapted
and survived, there is a chance that microorganisms will remediate the soil over the
long term. Soils which have deteriorated for shorter or longer time are not able to
provide appropriate habitat for plants and animals and are not suitable for human
use. The microbial community that faced an extreme contaminant load may also fail
and the chances for its spontaneous regeneration are slim. The knowledge on soil
toxicity and its self-detoxification potential by biodegradation and adaptation to non-
biodegradable contaminants was hardly available before the 1970-1980s. The tools to
evaluate and compare the management options based on proper risk assessment and
a wide selection of risk reduction measures became available only in the 1990s.
In many cases serious health problems drew the attention to soil contamination by
toxic chemical substances. A much reported case in Hungary was the lead processing
plant in Budafok (a Budapest suburb), where the smelter and the metalworks have
polluted the land for almost 100 years (Figures 3.1 and 3.2). The local physician
suspected a link between environmental contamination and the increased frequency of
cancer cases already by the 1980s. This assumption was supported by the results of an
extensive environmental and health survey in 1986, which was kept locked away.
Later on, an official health survey of the National Hygiene Institute clearly showed
on maps the connection between the increased cancer frequency and lead contamina-
tion of the soil. Production in the metalworks was stopped in 1990 because of the
protest by the local population after realizing the undoubted correlation between air
and soil contamination by the metalworks and human health problems and eventu-
ally the factory was pulled down (Figure 3.3). Court battles took more than 11 years
until an assessment of about 1,700 gardens was started and the huge soil contami-
nation was mapped under major pressure by civil groups. More than 5 years were
needed for evaluation, planning and fund raising before a decision on the complete
rehabilitation of the area was achieved. This included soil exchange in 1,400 gardens
and the demolition of the metalworks which started in 2005 and took 3 years and
cost
40 million. The removed contaminated soil was placed into a 6-ha and 11-m
high sarcophagus built on the factory site. The demolition waste of the factory was
a
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