Tracing the traces of pollution on the Nam Ton River, discovering an illegal tin mining site

On April 13, a leader of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district said that authorities were demolishing the camp, collapsing the tunnel of the illegal tin mine, and searching for the owner of this mining site.

2 days ago, received feedback from people about theNam Ton River continues to be polluted, turned red, Quy Hop district sent a delegation of officials to inspect the upstream of this river to find the cause.

Following the trail, the inspection team discovered a large-scale illegal tin mining site in the Hung Noi Valley area (Cong village, Chau Hong commune). However, the illegal miners had fled before the inspection team arrived.

At the scene, there was a mine shaft more than 15m deep with pumps, many other tools and equipment serving the mining.

"The scene shows that this area has been exploited for more than half a month. The area is located on the border between Chau Tien and Chau Hong communes, very dangerous, and rarely visited on normal days," said an officer in the inspection team.

The authorities then made a record of the incident and proceeded to destroy the illegal mining site.

Mr. Truong Van Hoa - Chairman of Chau Hong Commune People's Committee said that this area was previously licensed to a business to explore tin ore but the license expired a long time ago.

"Immediately after the inspection team discovered this illegal tin mining site, the local government also asked the police to investigate and find the culprit," said Mr. Hoa.

However, the Chairman of Chau Hong Commune People's Committee also stated that this tin mining site is not the cause of the Nam Ton River pollution. Because the amount of wastewater discharged from this mining site is not large.

"After the Nam Ton river became turbid, we, along with the district inspection team, searched the entire commune, but still could not find the cause. This illegal tin mining site was not the cause, as evidenced by the fact that it was discovered and stopped operating for 2 days now, but the Nam Ton river water is still turbid, nothing has changed," Mr. Hoa added.

Nam Ton and Nam Huong are two tributaries of the Dinh River - one of the natural symbols of Quy Hop district. Nam Ton River originates from the mountain ranges in the communes of Chau Hong, Chau Tien and Lien Hop. In many sections of these communes, the river flows underground at the foot of the mountains, forming many karst caves. When reaching Chau Quang commune, Nam Ton merges with Nam Huong to form the Dinh River.

However, since the upstream was licensed to mine tin ore, the river has gradually been "suffocated", being turbid all year round. The pollution of the Nam Ton River has become increasingly serious in recent years, as more and more tin ore mines have been licensed and put into operation.

According to the Nghe An Provincial Department of Environmental Protection, water samples taken from the monitoring point on the Nam Ton River had quite high turbidity, with TSS index exceeding the standard many times.

The Nam Ton River has been dying for decades, and is one of the most pressing issues facing the locality. Local authorities and departments have regularly inspected mines, but it is difficult to detect violations.

Mine owners often pump up groundwater to select ore, separating other compounds and metals from tin. According to regulations, wastewater after being used to select ore must be sent to settling pits, treated and then reused, and must not be discharged into the environment. However, many mine owners, after selecting ore, find ways to discharge directly into the environment. This not only pollutes the environment but also causes groundwater to be pumped to the point of depletion.

At the end of 2022, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district discovered two tin mines secretly discharging waste into the upper reaches of the Nam Ton River through underground pipes. These two enterprises were then suspended for a period of time and fined a total of 420 million VND. After the suspension of the mines, the Nam Ton River showed signs of revival and became clearer. However, recently, the pollution in this river has recurred.