Subsidence concerns in the United Nations

Abnormal signs

With a haggard face, Mr. Lo Van Hue (53 years old) sat absent-mindedly on the porch of his house next to Provincial Road 532 (Quen village, Lien Hop commune, Quy Hop district). Since discovering the cracks in his house, he has been so worried that he has lost his appetite and sleep.

Many nights I dare not sleep, afraid that the house will collapse. Every time I hear an explosion from the mine, I wake up. So scared!

Mr. Lo Van Hue (Quen village, Lien Hop commune, Quy Hop district)

The field behind Quen village, in the distance is the tin mine. Photo: Tien Hung

Ore mineThe mine that Mr. Hue mentioned is only about 100m from his house, and is strictly fenced with corrugated iron and barbed wire. Inside, apart from the machinery system serving the mining work lying around, only faintly visible are the tunnels going deep into the mountain.

According to local people, there used to be about 30 workers at this tin mine. However, for many months now, no workers have been seen coming or going, only security guards. Notably, the tin mine is also located deep inside the mountain, so in order to exploit the ore, the company must pump groundwater.

Both the main and secondary houses of Mr. Hue’s family were cracked. The cracks ran long, with some sections having gaps wider than 1cm. He suspected that the mining operation had drained the underground water source to extract tin, leading to subsidence and cracks in the house.

Pointing to one of the cracks running along the house, Mr. Hue worried that the house would collapse. Photo: Tien Hung

Next to her, Ms. Ha Thi Quang (70 years old) has also been living in fear for nearly a year. Her house was newly built, but cracks have appeared all over it. There are cracks nearly 5m long, and gaps nearly 5cm wide, separating the main house from the kitchen. Ms. Quang said that these cracks appeared at the same time as the cracks in the surrounding houses. At the same time when the mine pumped the most groundwater, the surrounding streams and creeks dried up.

“I live alone. So since I saw the house cracked like this, I’ve been scared. I can’t eat or sleep, but I don’t know who to call,” said Ms. Quang.

The crack separates the kitchen and the main room of Mrs. Quang's house. Photo: Tien Hung

According to Nghe An Newspaper reporters, at least 5 houses in Quen village have cracked. In addition, many people's wells have dried up at times. Notably, dozens of sinkholes have appeared in people's rice fields, right outside the tin mine. The unusual thing is that after each sinkhole appeared in the rice fields, within a short time, someone quietly filled them up.

It should have been left there for the local authorities to record and inspect. Then the authorities would come to assess and investigate the cause. But every time a hole appeared, they filled it up.

Mr. Luong Van Binh - Head of Quen village (Lien Hop commune)

Tin mine seen from a resident's house. Photo: Tien Hung

Find the cause

According to local people, this tin mine was previously exploited by bandits. More than 2 years ago, Hong Bao Ngoc Company Limited was licensed, started building camps, and brought in workers and machinery. However, according to local authorities, this tin mine has not yet officially started exploitation, but has only built basic construction, conducted trial operations, and blasted tunnels to serve the mining process.

“Although they have not officially started exploiting, not long ago they tried pumping up groundwater. Immediately after that, sinkholes appeared, and wells up to 50 meters deep also ran dry. That is why both the local people and the local government are very worried. It was like this after just a test pumping, and when it officially starts exploiting, who knows what will happen. The people here are very concerned, especially after the recent incident in Chau Hong commune. At every meeting, the people have their opinions,” said Mr. Lo Thanh Dong - Chairman of Lien Hop Commune People's Committee.

Recently, people have become even more worried when they saw this company installing a rather large water pipeline system. According to the reporter's records, the rubber pipe, about 50cm in diameter, runs from the mine along the Quen stream for about 500m... This pipe is said to be used to pump underground water from inside the mine to the outside, to ensure the mine is always dry.

The end of the pipeline from the tin mine. Photo: TH

Therefore, local people have expressed their concerns and confusion about the fact that when Hong Bao Ngoc Company officially comes into operation, pumping water according to the approved capacity, there is a very high risk of depleting underground water sources and leading to land subsidence and people's houses like the incident that has happened in Chau Hong commune recently.

Pipelines from the tin mine run along Quen stream. Photo: Tien Hung

Discussing this issue, a leader of Quy Hop district said that to prevent possible incidents when Hong Bao Ngoc Company Limited goes into operation and pumps water, the locality has sent a document requesting the Provincial People's Committee to consider directing relevant departments and branches to inspect and evaluate, especially the assessment of the amount of water pumped during the underground mining process approved by Nghe An Provincial People's Committee.

"The problem that the locality and people are worried about is that the amount of water allowed to be pumped is too large," said the district leader.

According to this person, because the terrain of Lien Hop commune is very narrow, not as large as Chau Hong commune, the slope in Lien Hop commune is also quite large, when the underground water source is depleted, the subsidence in Lien Hop commune is expected to be much worse than in Chau Hong commune.

One of the sinkholes in the rice field. Photo: Provided by local people

Meanwhile, speaking with Nghe An Newspaper reporters, a representative of Hong Bao Ngoc Company Limited said that the subsidence and cracking of houses was not related to the mine's operations.

“We don’t know where the cracks and subsidence are. Our mine hasn’t even been exploited yet, so how could it cause subsidence?” he said.

Gate to the tin mine. Photo: Tien Hung