Karrier

Why were the March data so high?

The March reports, now withdrawn, reported extremely high aluminium concentrations and contamination by 12 other metals. The authorities suspended our production activities on the basis of the March data. We wanted to understand what happened.

Accredited experts established that the March data reflected total-metal rather than dissolved-metal concentrations. The laboratory confirmed this conclusion and formally withdrew all its March sampling and testing records because the protocols used were unsuitable for the regulatory assessment of dissolved metals in groundwater. The withdrawal has been submitted to the environmental authority. We explain what caused the March results.

What experts say

 

  • The formal withdrawal of the March reports and data, together with the comprehensive expert investigation, confirms that SEMCORP’s processes and materials are not capable of causing metals contamination of the nature and magnitude suggested by the March figures.
  • The March laboratory reports presented total-metal rather than dissolved-metal concentrations. The high values therefore included metals naturally present in soil particles in the samples. The laboratory confirmed the experts’ conclusion and withdrew its sampling and testing records on that basis. Under the applicable Hungarian regulations, dissolved concentrations are used to evaluate metals in groundwater, excluding metals contained in soil or other solid particles.



  • The area around the March boreholes showed very low aluminum concentrations. The March report had shown more than 2.6 million micrograms per liter and more than 300,000 micrograms per liter aluminum in the two boreholes. In the new testing, none of the results within 50 meters of either borehole exceeded 30 micrograms per liter.

 

  • Based on groundwater flow modeling and soil testing, there is no evidence that a severe contamination of metals that was present in March subsequently became undetectable in the groundwater due to water flow, precipitation or soil adsorption. 


  • Simulations of extreme contamination scenarios involving SEMCORP’s aluminum-containing materials could not reproduce the March values.

 

Under Annex 4 to Joint Decree 6/2009 (IV. 14.) KvVM–EüM–FVM, potential metals contamination in groundwater is assessed using dissolved metal concentrations, excluding metals contained in soil or other solid particles. Groundwater samples can contain soil particles, and soil naturally contains metals – particularly aluminum and iron. This is natural. However, testing total metal content counts the metals in those particles and can therefore produce values that are not comparable with the statutory dissolved metal thresholds.

Accredited experts concluded, and the lab that performed the sampling and testing in March also confirmed, that the March data reflected total metal concentrations, not dissolved metal concentrations, making it unsuitable for assessing dissolved metal contamination in groundwater under the applicable legal and technical standards. On that basis, the laboratory has now formally withdrawn all its March sampling and testing records. The withdrawal has been submitted to the competent environmental authority.

The pattern of metals reflected in the March data is itself highly indicative of the presence of soil particles in the tested groundwater samples: aluminum and iron were both elevated at the same sampling points, and their ratio was consistent across all ten points as well as with the metal composition found in soil samples from the site. Iron is not an input or output of SEMCORP’s manufacturing process.

We acknowledge that our team did not recognize this methodological issue when it first received and submitted the report to the authorities and that we should have investigated the results much sooner. If we had acted sooner, we may have prevented the suspension.

Are you interested in more scientific details? Read our open letter →  https://semcorp.hu/atlathatosag/

Are you interested in the lab data? Read the data 🡪 Semcorp Hungary Kft. – Dokumentumok – Public – Minden dokumentum 

About SEMCORP

SEMCORP is a global market leader in lithium-ion battery separator films. At its Hungarian site in Debrecen, the company produces advanced separator products that support the manufacture of up to 300,000 vehicles in Europe and the United States annually.

Media enquiries

Contact: info@hu.semcorp.com