BUDAPEST, Hungary — Production restarted Friday at the metals plant where a broken reservoir unleashed a flood of caustic red sludge, even as villagers began returning to one of the affected towns in western Hungary despite warnings from environmentalists that it was too dangerous.
About 800 Kolontar residents were evacuated last Saturday after authorities said a wall of the factory reservoir could collapse further, releasing a second wave of red sludge after a calamitous break Oct. 4.
On Friday, about 30 people were driven to Kolontar in buses from a sports arena in the nearby town of Ajka, where they had been staying.
The plant at the center of the catastrophe, the Ajkai Timfoldgyar metals plant belonging to MAL Rt., or the Hungarian Aluminum Production and Trade Co., restarted operations late Friday.
A protective wall of dolomite and earth — with an average height of nearly 9 feet — has been built in Kolontar to shield the area from further spills of the red sludge.
