Almost five hundred cubic metres of oil leaked from a MOL pipeline at Gárdony, contaminating private wells

Two things are “up in the air” in the small town of Gárdony: the smell of diesel and the future of the locals where a MOL fuel pipeline was damaged, spilling nearly 500 cubic metres of diesel and petrol into the ground. Some residents got tired of the silence of comapny and the authorities, and with the help of NGOs, have started to pick up the pieces themselves of what to expect after the spill.

A sign reading „drinking water well” stands at the corner of Géza fejedelem út and Almafa utca in Gárdony, a small town of 14,000 in Central Hungary. Just a few meters is a closed-off work site ran by the MOL oil company, where nearly 500 cubic metres of diesel and petrol leaked from an underground pipeline at the end of 2024. The water from the well is, of course, not safe to drink. Locals could still get water from the above-ground water tank nearby, if it was not frozen.

Depending on the wind, the smell of gasoline can be smelt  throughout the area, sometimes lighter, sometimes stronger. In rain puddles, pearly discolouration shimmers, a sign of petrochemical pollution, often seen under old leaky cars. This pollution, however, seeps up from the ground after every rainfall, even after MOL has replaced 1600 tons of soil on the corner opposite the drinking well.

We pass vineyards of renowned wine producers on the way to the site of the damage. The immediate neighbours of the sealed-off area are a hippophae  plantation and a family home with a small child. Locals say the occupants will soon move out, after their child had to be bathed for a month in water from the well, which may contain carcinogenic benzene. At the time, no one knew the pipe was leaking, or even that it was there.

Some people have moved to the Gárdony allotment because they kept animals or practiced organic farming.

Aerial view of Gárdony (Átlátszó photo)

Péter Hajas and Krisztina Hajas-Kratochwill have cared for 30 fruit trees without chemicals, 23 of which are cherry trees of special value, a kind of gene bank of 8-10 breeds. At the moment, they do not know whether they can water their plantations with water from the well, nor how the pollution will affect their fruit.

Robert Dudás and Zsófi Németh moved to the affected part of Gárdony in February 2024. The value of their property, their investment, has been practically wiped out. No contamination was found in their wells, but contamination was found in two neighbouring sampling sites. Because they do not trust MOL’s testing, they and a few local residents have pooled funds for an independent test.

10 cubic metres became 300, then almost 500

István Magán keeps animals to supplement his pension, and currently orders water from afar. At a citizens’ meeting held on 4 November 2024 in the main hall of the Gárdony Mayor’s Office, the minutes of the meeting state that traces of hydrocarbons were found in two wells. One of them belongs to Magán, and is located 350 metres from the other well, which also tested positive for pollution. MOL however, says that this contamination is not linked to the fuel leak.

Although, as the minutes show, originally they only offered sampling wells in a 100-meter radius of the leak. The record also states that ‘it is possible that the contamination has found an underground water vein and the water has reached’ Mr. Magán’s well . However, according to MOL, the pollution has been contained.

Water tank ordered by Gárdony farmer in December 2024 (Átlátszó photo)

The minutes also show that MOL reported the loss of 300 cubic metres of fuel, which probably leaked from the Százhalombatta-Pécs pipeline in this area.

A later report which was obtained by Greenpeace and Átlátszó however showed 487 cubic meters missing.

The admitted amount has thus increased from 10 cubic metres (MOL originally reported the leakage of „approximately 10 cubic metres of hydrocarbon” to the Water Protection Authority, the Environmental Protection Authority and the Central Transdanubian Water Management Directorate on 18 October 2024) to 300 and then to nearly 500, while sampling sites are only visible in the immediate vicinity of the accident.

Hydrocarbon contamination – of as yet unknown origin – has also been found further away from the initial investigation perimeter recommended by the oil company. Locals fear that both the scale and extent of the contamination is greater than the oil company admits. They fear that not only the enclosed area, but the whole of Gárdony and even Lake Velence could be affected.

MOL to investigate itself until the end of February

The residents’ fears are based on the fact that they have only been able to obtain details about the spill through a FOIA data request submitted with the help of the NGO Alba Natura and Greenpeace, as well as the Society for Civil Liberties (TASZ).

The trust between the company and residents was not helped by the fact that MOL initially provided unlimited quantities of bottled water to residents, but then suspended this practice, complaining that the residence did not return the bottles for deposit.

The deadline for MOL’s fact-finding investigation, ordered by the Fejér County Government Office more than a month after the incident, is 28 February. Since October last year, when the pollution was discovered, people in the area have been living in uncertainty, and the best way to obtain information is to investigate for themselves, without sparing any effort, time or money. And – in the light of their experience so far – they do not trust the self-investigation of the polluting company.