Company Head Arrested for Negligence in Hungary Toxic Sludge Disaster

Photos: AP

Would he have been arrested in the US?

Last week in Hungary, toxic sludge burst out of its containment reservoir and into three nearby villages, killing 8 people and forcing hundreds to abandon their homes. The red mud was a byproduct of the aluminum-making process employed by MAL Zrt, the Hungarian Aluminum Production and Trade Company. The head of the company has just been arrested for criminal negligence, and faces 10 years in prison if convicted. The state temporarily wrested control of the company and installed a commissioner. Which is interesting, and stands in stark contrast to the responses to recent environmental disasters in the US -- what do you think would have happened if the disaster had happened here?

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