Red mud is a highly caustic byproduct of aluminum production and is the sludge that inundated several towns in Hungary when a storage pond failed. Though researchers have experimented with alternate uses of this waste product and efforts are made at reclamation, land that is dedicated to red mud storage is typically lost forever to building or agricultural production.

Below are some view of red mud storage depots around the world as seen on Google Maps. These are all adjacent to bauxite / alumina refinery operations. These red mud storage ponds are common to any facility that processes bauxite aluminum ore into alumina. You’ll see many bauxite refineries are located adjacent to rivers or coasts. Before the 70s, aluminum producers around the world commonly dumped toxic red mud directly into oceans and rivers. The ponds came later when governments forced them to stop damaging the environment.

Point Comfort, Texas.

Corpus Christi, Texas.

Red mud storage outside of Arvida, Quebec, along the Saguenay River.

Gunyangara, Australia.

Hayes, Jamaica

O Alto de Lago, Spain, right on the Bay of Biscay.

Alubar, Brazil.

Korba, India.

Portoscuso, Italy, right on the Sardinian coast.

Burntisland, Scotland (closed since 2002), where red mud apparently oozes out to cover a nearby bike path.