The results of the seawater tests in Da Nang will be available this afternoon.

On the afternoon of April 27th, Mr. Nguyen Dieu, Director of the Da Nang Department of Natural Resources and Environment, stated that after the appearance of scattered dead fish washing ashore, the Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism requested the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to cooperate in collecting seawater samples for testing to determine if it was safe for swimming.

An official from the Tourism Department (Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism) who accompanied the team collecting seawater samples said that the team used canoes to travel along the entire Da Nang coastline, from Bai Rang (Son Tra peninsula) to Non Nuoc, and collected samples at four points, mainly beaches with many swimmers, for testing.

A team of officials from the Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Da Nang Environmental Engineering Center set off to collect seawater samples for testing to determine if Da Nang's beaches are safe for swimming. (Photo provided by Mr. Phan Minh Hai, Deputy Head of the Management Board of Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang's tourist beaches)

Mr. Nguyen Dieu, Director of the Da Nang Department of Natural Resources and Environment, added that the Department has sent officials from the Da Nang Environmental Engineering Center to collect seawater samples for testing in order to inform the public whether Da Nang's beaches are safe for swimming. By the end of the afternoon on April 27th, the Environmental Engineering Center had analyzed four indicators, and will continue to analyze one or two more indicators on the morning of April 28th.

“Residents and tourists are awaiting the official conclusion on whether Da Nang's seawater is contaminated with toxins, so we have instructed our team to work urgently. The analysis results from the Center for Environmental Engineering will be available by the afternoon of April 28th. In addition, for some other parameters that the Center cannot test, samples will be sent to several central government agencies and units located in the city for analysis. The results of these analyses may be available 1-2 days later!” – Mr. Nguyen Dieu stated.

Mr. Nguyen Dieu also stated that on the afternoon of April 27th, the Da Nang Environmental Engineering Center conducted an inspection and monitoring of the scattered dead fish washing ashore on beaches in the city to determine if the cause was toxic contamination. By late afternoon, the inspection team had not yet returned, so they had not reported the results to the leaders of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

According to Infonet