Dear TAI Partners, TAI Hungary receives many phonecalls and emails from the Hungarian media after the deadly toxic mud spill in Northern Hungary. TV news such as Echo TV (see the attachment) or internet news portals as well as the weekend issue of the most widely distributed daily newspaper of Hungary all refer to EMLA when asking about legal implications of the disaster. It seems that not only safety rules were violated by the company causing the spill but access rights to sufficient prior information about the nature of the material stored at the site were neglected. People had no knowledge on how to behave once an accident like this happens, thus leaving so many people injured by the alkaline mud while saving their assets - instead of fleeing as fast as possible. This again underlines the huge responsibility of chemical facility operators, and the role of civil society to step in, once the business sector and the government fail to perform their duties. This is the place where TAI has to be in the forefront and fight for better access, contributing to the prevention of such disasters. dr. Csaba Kiss Director EMLA