Hungarian Authorities Open Proceedings Against CATL After Green Liquid Incident at Debrecen Battery Plant

Credit: CLS

Hungarian environmental and water authorities have launched proceedings against Chinese battery maker CATL after green-colored liquid waste entered the sewage system at the company’s battery plant site in Debrecen, eastern Hungary.

According to the Hajdú-Bihar County Government Office, cited by Hungarian news agency MTI and local media on June 5, the incident occurred on the evening of May 5. The water management authority revoked approval for the plant’s industrial wastewater pre-treatment system and ordered CATL to clean both the municipal sewage network and the stormwater drainage system.

Authorities said CATL ended the pollution within the prescribed deadline. However, because of regulatory violations, the water management and environmental authorities said fines would be imposed in accordance with Hungarian law. No fine amount was disclosed in the reports reviewed.

CATL has said the incident was linked to a technical pressure test at the construction site. Contractors used water dyed green to identify possible leaks in a storage system, and the liquid resurfaced after entering a blocked drainage system. The company said the substance was non-toxic and posed no environmental risk.

Hungarian authorities collected accredited wastewater and surface-water samples from several locations on the evening of the incident. The county government office said tests conducted so far had not detected pollution harmful to human health, while an extraordinary investigation ordered by Rural and Regional Development Minister Viktória Lőrincz remained ongoing.

The incident has nevertheless intensified scrutiny of CATL’s Debrecen project, one of Hungary’s largest foreign investments. CATL announced in 2022 that it would invest EUR 7.34 billion to build a 100 GWh battery plant on a 221-hectare site in Debrecen, its second battery plant in Europe after Germany.

Local residents, activists and political figures have raised broader concerns about transparency, environmental safeguards and the social impact of large battery and electric-vehicle projects in Hungary. The issue comes as Hungary’s new government under Péter Magyar has pledged to review major Chinese-backed industrial investments, including the CATL battery plant in Debrecen.