Formosa causes mass fish deaths in central Vietnam sea

(Baonghean.vn)- On the afternoon of June 30, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment announced that the cause of the mass fish deaths in the central coast was an accident at Formosa Ha Tinh.

At the end of the regular online meeting of the Government in June this afternoon, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha affirmed: "The incident caused great economic and social damage. Immediately after receiving information about the incident, Party and State leaders resolutely directed departments and localities to assess environmental damage, direct scientific agencies and sectors to determine and clarify the cause of the incident."

Formosa Ha Tinh leaders have apologized to the Vietnamese people for their incorrect statements regarding the fish deaths.

According to Minister Tran Hong Ha, 100 experts from 30 domestic and foreign agencies have been mobilized to determine that the large source of waste from Vung Ang (Ha Tinh) flowing along the ocean currents is the cause of the mass death of seafood, especially at the bottom.

The interdisciplinary inspection team with the participation of various sectors discovered that Hung Nghiep Formosa Company had committed violations, leading to wastewater discharged into the sea from the company, exceeding the permitted level many times.

The Minister said that ministries, branches and competent agencies concluded that Formosa violated the construction and testing operation and this was the cause of serious marine environmental pollution.

Information about the time to announce the cause of fish deaths has been committed by the Government in early June.

Accordingly, on the afternoon of June 30, representatives of the Government, ministries, branches, and localities in the affected areas... will participate in a press conference to announce the cause of the mass, unusual fish deaths in 4 central provinces.

Concluding the regular Government meeting this afternoon, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the Government will announce the cause and measures to handle the mass fish deaths in the Central region.

Currently, authorities are holding a press conference to officially announce the cause of fish deaths and solutions.

PV Group