Commune Chairman Admits Fault for Tuberculosis and Lung Hospital Wastewater Flowing into Rice Fields

(Baonghe an) - On the afternoon of July 18, the People's Committee of Nghi Van commune, Nghi Loc district (Nghe An) had a working session with relevant parties to handle the matter.Some residents of Hamlet 6, Nghi Van Commune, arbitrarily dug a ditch to discharge wastewater from Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Hospital into the rice fields of Hamlets 4 and 5 in the same commune.

Mr. Thai Doan Sy - Chairman of Nghi Van Commune People's Committee chaired the meeting, with the presence of the Secretary, Hamlet Chief, Head of the Front Working Committee of Hamlets 4, 5, 6 of Nghi Van Commune and representatives of the Board of Directors of Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Hospital. Also attending the meeting were representatives of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Nghi Loc District, representatives of the Investigation Police Agency of Nghi Loc District Police, and representatives of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee.

Overview of the working session between Nghi Van Commune People's Committee and relevant parties.

Information at the meeting: Previously, on July 14 and 15, Mr. Nguyen Van Tri - the head of Hamlet 6, Nghi Van Commune, and a group of people organized to rent a machine to dig a ditch, install a sewer, and discharge wastewater from the Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Hospital into the rice fields of households in Hamlets 4 and 5. Seeing that the wastewater was black and had an unpleasant odor, many residents of Hamlets 4 and 5 gathered in front of the gate of the Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Hospital to protest because they believed that the Hospital was behind the discharge of this wastewater. The gathering of many residents to protest against the Hospital disturbed public order in the area.

After receiving the information, the leaders of Nghi Van Commune People's Committee sent officials to the scene to grasp the situation and directed Mr. Tri to immediately stop digging ditches and illegally discharging wastewater; and proceed to level and restore the ground in the area where the ditch had been dug.

Recently, hospital wastewater has been flowing into the rice fields of people in hamlets 4 and 5 of Nghi Van commune.

Explaining at the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Van Tri - head of Hamlet 6, Nghi Van Commune, said that after the rains of the past few days, the people of Hamlet 6 intended to produce on the fields near the Hospital that had been abandoned for a long time. Thinking that the wastewater from the Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Hospital was safe, they made a ditch to discharge water into the fields to prepare the land.

Before doing this, he and the village Front Committee met to agree on the policy and asked Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Hospital for support of 7 million VND. After draining the water, unexpectedly the wastewater flowing into the field had an unpleasant fishy smell.

Representatives of hamlets 4 and 5 of Nghi Van commune said that Mr. Tri, the head of hamlet 6, discharged hospital wastewater into the fields, causing panic and anxiety among the people of the two hamlets. Some even suspected that this action had personal motives...

Wastewater ditch of Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Hospital.

Representing Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Hospital, Mr. Thai Dinh Lam - Deputy Director of the Hospital assured that: the wastewater discharged from the Hospital recently completely meets the requirements. Because, the Hospital has just been invested by Nghe An Department of Health to build a modern medical wastewater treatment system. The system was completed and put into trial operation from March 1, 2016.

On April 20, the Ministry of Health's Medical Construction Project Management Board invited the Institute of Occupational Health and Environment to the Hospital to collect samples of wastewater that had passed through the treatment system for testing. On July 6, the Institute of Occupational Health and Environment returned the results with indicators that met the requirements. The water flowing into the fields with a foul odor was wastewater that had settled in the ditch for many years, before the Hospital had a modern treatment system like today.

During the trial operation period, without a license from the competent authority, the hospital discharged wastewater into the field, which was wrong. Since July 15, the hospital has stopped discharging wastewater into the field. The hospital's support of 7 million VND to Hamlet 6 is for the hamlet to invest in production as the unit has done in previous support payments, not to help the hamlet discharge hospital wastewater into the field.

The installed sewer pipes have been removed and the site has been restored.

A representative of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Nghi Loc district said: Nghi Loc District People's Committee has just sent an official dispatch requesting the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Nghe An to take wastewater samples from Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Hospital to test and evaluate the quality.

A representative of the Nghi Loc District Police Investigation Agency said: after the incident, the agency conducted an investigation. If the professional agency concludes that the wastewater discharged by the Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Hospital outside the hospital grounds has not met the requirements, the agency will carry out procedures to handle it according to the provisions of law.

The wastewater treatment plant of Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Hospital has been put into trial operation since March 1, 2016.

Concluding the meeting, Mr. Thai Doan Sy - Chairman of Nghi Van Commune People's Committee admitted his own shortcomings in not doing a good job of management, allowing hamlet officials to do the wrong thing. Whether or not Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Hospital discharged polluted wastewater outside in the past will be investigated by the authorities. The act of Mr. Nguyen Van Tri - hamlet chief of hamlet 6 organizing the digging of drainage ditches without reporting to the commune government is wrong. Although the work was discussed and for the common benefit of the hamlet, it was still localized, affecting people in other hamlets.

Staff of Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Hospital with a bottle of treated wastewater sample from the hospital.

Mr. Sy also requested that the Party Secretary and hamlet chiefs of hamlets need to stay calm and analyze the nature of the incident so that people can understand clearly, avoiding actions that cause disorder in the area. He requested that Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Hospital immediately stop discharging wastewater outside without permission from competent authorities. In the long term, the Hospital needs to contact the Commune People's Committee and households in hamlet 6 to complete procedures to transfer land adjacent to the hospital campus that has long been inefficient in production to build a wastewater reservoir. The Board of Directors needs to be responsible for organizing health checks for people in areas where there is a legal basis to conclude that they are affected by the hospital's wastewater.

In the immediate future, Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Hospital needs to allocate a portion of its budget to support households whose fields have recently been contaminated by wastewater from the Tuberculosis and Lung Hospital.

Minh Tan