It is necessary to ensure conditions for environmental monitoring activities.

(Baonghean) Environmental monitoring plays an important role, being a technical tool serving the State management in the field of environmental protection. Performing its functions and tasks, in more than 10 years of operation (officially since 2001), the Environmental Monitoring and Engineering Center, under the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, has made efforts to overcome difficulties due to lack and weakness of equipment to strive to successfully complete the assigned tasks.

The Center has completed a set of data on the current state of the environment each year and over the past 10 years, helping State management agencies promptly detect areas as well as monitor environmental developments over the years to proactively issue directive documents, prevent and combat pollution, and improve the environment. In addition, it conducts environmental assessment and analysis to serve the inspection and examination delegations of the Central and the province on environmental protection at production facilities and enterprises, effectively contributing to helping the delegations have accurate assessments and have practical bases to recommend competent authorities to handle and enterprises to overcome shortcomings, limitations, and environmental incidents.

Environmental quality analysis laboratory of the Provincial Environmental Monitoring and Engineering Center

In 2011, the Center completed the results of 4 environmental monitoring periods according to the approved plan in a serious and quality-assured manner. Deployed the development of an outline to adjust the planning of the environmental monitoring network of Nghe An province for the period 2011 - 2015, with a vision to 2020. Organized the establishment of the operating procedures for temporary landfills and the operating procedures - estimated standards for landfills 1A, 1B at Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex. In particular, in 2011, the Center promptly responded to and handled the environmental incident of leachate at the temporary landfill in Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex according to the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, contributing to the release of garbage backlog in Vinh City.

Coordinate with the Provincial Department of Environmental Protection to conduct environmental pollution assessment at 21 cassava, sugarcane, paper and seafood processing facilities; develop a project to handle environmental pollution caused by pesticides in Quynh Luu; participate in taking samples to resolve environmental pollution at SABECO Packaging Factory, Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company; Yen Thanh cassava starch processing factory, Thai Duong Pig Farm, and take samples of Sao River water...

In 2011, the Center also provided consulting and prepared environmental impact assessment reports and environmental protection commitments for dozens of projects in districts, cities and towns across the province. And in 2011, after many years of operation, for the first time, the Center signed and prepared reports on environmental restoration funds after environmental impact assessment; prepared reports on wastewater discharge into water sources and water exploitation, surface water and groundwater use; prepared hazardous waste source registration files for dozens of production and business establishments; and conducted periodic environmental monitoring for 67 production and business establishments in the province.

It can be affirmed that the activities of the Provincial Environmental Monitoring and Engineering Center are very positive, contributing to improving State management in environmental protection, raising awareness of compliance with environmental protection laws of establishments and enterprises in the province. However, in terms of requirements, environmental monitoring and engineering activities in the whole province are not really guaranteed and comprehensive.

Mr. Le Van Hung - Director of the Center for Environmental Monitoring and Engineering said: The limitation is that the environmental monitoring network issued in the province only focuses on monitoring the air environment, surface water, groundwater, and wastewater, while the soil environment, biodiversity and some other monitoring have not been carried out, leading to the failure to comprehensively assess the current environmental status in the province.

On the other hand, according to the law, projects with environmental impact assessment reports, environmental protection commitments, or environmental impact registrations must conduct periodic monitoring every year, on average twice a year. However, in reality, each year only about 65 - 75 establishments and enterprises contract with the Center to conduct monitoring. If we include private service enterprises performing monitoring functions in the province, the number of enterprises conducting environmental monitoring every year is only about 100 units.

In addition, the equipment and machinery serving the environmental monitoring and analysis work still have many shortcomings. Most of the equipment was purchased once since the Center was established, some machines have degraded, damaged and cannot be restored; some machines were purchased but cannot be used because the supplier did not transfer the technology or the equipment was not synchronized such as: polarographic machines, oil content analyzers in water. Types of machines for monitoring soil, biodiversity, measuring emissions from cement factories, brick kilns, heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, lead, oil; machines for analyzing pesticide residues... are still not available. In addition, human resources are also seriously lacking, the entire Center currently has only 12 employees and 4 contracts under the budget to pay salaries, while the requirements for tasks are increasingly high.

Minh Chi