Solving environmental pollution at Thai Duong Foreign Pig Breeding Company Limited

At the 3rd session of the 16th Provincial People's Council, there were many questions from voters and delegates of the Provincial People's Council. The Provincial People's Committee directed the directors of departments, heads of departments, branches, provincial units and chairmen of the People's Committees of districts, cities, towns and related units to resolve them. The specific results of resolving voters' petitions are as follows:

Solving environmental pollution at Thai Duong Foreign Pig Breeding Company Limited

Regarding this issue, voters requested to strictly implement the conclusions dated November 22, 2011 of comrade Dinh Viet Hong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee on solving environmental pollution at Thai Duong Foreign Pig Breeding Company Limited (Dai Son Commune, Do Luong District) such as: Relocating the company out of Dai Son Commune before December 30, 2011 according to the conclusion; Early compensation for households affected by damages caused by the company; Continuing to handle and remedy environmental pollution caused by the company.

The Provincial People's Committee would like to report specifically as follows:

- Regarding the content "Move the company out of Dai Son commune before December 30, 2011 according to the Conclusion of comrade Dinh Viet Hong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee on November 22, 2011".

On November 22, 2011, Comrade Dinh Viet Hong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee held a dialogue with the people about the environmental pollution situation at Thai Duong Foreign Pig Breeding Farm, Dai Son Commune, Do Luong District; Based on the meeting content, the Provincial People's Committee issued Conclusion Notice No. 445/TB-UBND dated November 23, 2011, which included the above-mentioned content of voters' reflection.

Then, on December 29, 2011, at the Office of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee, Comrade Dinh Viet Hong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired a working session to discuss and resolve issues related to Thai Duong Foreign Pig Breeding Farm of Thai Duong Foreign Pig Breeding Company Limited with the participation of relevant sectors and agencies. Based on the results of the working session, the Provincial People's Committee issued Conclusion Notice No. 508/TB-UBND dated November 30, 2011 (using Notice 508 to replace Notice No. 445/TB-UBND dated November 23, 2011 of the Provincial People's Committee) directing all levels and sectors to focus on solving issues related to Thai Duong Foreign Pig Breeding Farm, in particular, allowing Thai Duong Foreign Pig Breeding Company to extend the time for relocating the pig herd and requiring the Company to reduce the herd to a level suitable to the carrying capacity of the environment (specifically, reducing to a total herd of 5,000 pigs according to Notice No. 03/TB-UBND dated January 4, 2012), building and operating environmental treatment works according to the plan that has been assessed to meet standards before May 30, 2012;

- Regarding the content "Early compensation for households affected by damage caused by the company".

Based on the inspection, verification and report of the People's Committee of Do Luong district, it shows that: Thai Duong Foreign Pig Breeding Company Limited must compensate for damage to rice, fish farming area, domestic water, health check-ups for people, and support lime powder to improve the fields. Regarding these contents, the company has seriously implemented and compensated and paid to the people and Do Luong District General Hospital. Specifically:

+ Damage to rice, lime powder support for field improvement: The Company compensated the people in 2011 (rice and rice land damaged in 2010). For domestic water, the Company supported each affected household with an amount of 200,000 VND/month.

+ Regarding medical examination and treatment for people: Implementing the direction of the Provincial People's Committee in Notice No. 508/TB-UBND dated December 30, 2011, the People's Committee of Do Luong district has completed the organization of medical examination for affected households, with a total cost of 41,443,000 VND; According to the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, Thai Duong Company Limited must fully bear the above costs and the company has fully paid the medical examination fee according to the contract.

+ Regarding the affected fish farming area: This content has been directed by the Provincial People's Committee to Thai Duong Foreign Pig Breeding Company Limited to implement in Notice No. 03/TB-UBND dated January 4, 2012; The statistics and calculation of the number of damaged fish have been carried out by the People's Committee of Do Luong district, determining the number of affected fish in hamlets 7, 8, 9, 10 of Dai Son commune, Do Luong district with a total amount of 296,337,000 VND. This amount was fully paid by the company to the people on March 20, 2012.

- Regarding the content "Continue to handle and overcome environmental pollution caused by the company".

Notice No. 508/TB-UBND dated December 30, 2011 of the People's Committee of Nghe An province requires the company to focus on completing the construction of an environmental treatment system according to the plan approved by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Official Dispatch No. 4169/TNMT-MT dated December 27, 2010 and must complete and process it to meet standards and meet the livestock capacity scale according to current regulations before May 30, 2012, and at the same time assign the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to inspect and supervise the construction and operation of this project. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment has periodically coordinated with relevant agencies twice a month to organize inspections, supervision and urging the construction and operation of environmental treatment projects at the Pig Farm; On March 20, 2012, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment discovered and recorded administrative violations in the field of environmental protection against Ngoai Thai Duong Pig Breeding Company Limited, transferring them to the competent authority to impose fines and request correction of violations; requesting the company to speed up the construction progress of the environmental treatment system of the pig farm, ensuring the time and quality of the project. Through inspections and supervisions, the company has basically made efforts and focused on building environmental treatment projects, the stages are being carried out synchronously to put into operation. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment has taken samples of wastewater after treatment for analysis. Up to this point, the wastewater treatment system has basically been treated better than before, however, the wastewater after treatment is not stable, sometimes the treatment meets the standards, sometimes the wastewater does not meet environmental standards.

Currently, the wastewater treatment system has basically completed the main items and is in the process of synchronizing the items to put into trial operation. To completely resolve the environmental pollution at the Thai Duong Foreign Pig Breeding Farm, the Provincial People's Committee directs specialized agencies and relevant levels and sectors to request Thai Duong Foreign Pig Breeding Company Limited to:

- Continue to reduce the total herd to 5,000 heads to match the scale and capacity of the wastewater treatment system.

- Urgently complete the remaining items of the wastewater treatment system such as: Surface water collection system, overflow rainwater; renovate, treat and waterproof two biogas tanks; complete the biofertilizer house, disinfection station; plant trees around the fence and pig farm grounds.