Concerns from pesticide residue warehouses

(Baonghean) -Since the 1960s, thousands of tons of pesticides have been transported to localities in Nghe An province. For many years now, these pesticide warehouses have not been used anymore, but the impact of residual chemicals from these warehouses has seriously affected the daily life, health and production of the people.

From Yen Ly intersection, go up Highway 48, following the path of Vice Hamlet Ho Van Truyen to Hon Tro area, Hamlet 15, Dien Yen Commune, Dien Chau District, where there is an unfinished pesticide warehouse. Even though it was sunny and the road was dry, we still had to struggle to get through about 3km to the warehouse. I asked Mr. Truyen: "Dien Yen is one of the communes that has done well in building new rural areas, why is the road to the village so bad?" He smiled sadly: "Since the warehouse was built, especially after the warehouse was rebuilt to store the remaining pesticides, how many people have lived in this area? If there are no people living there, why invest so much money?"

As soon as we arrived, we smelled a strong, unpleasant odor. Pointing to a row of old houses, Mr. Truyen said: "That's where old pesticides are stored, miss." Looking to both sides, there were only a few houses scattered about. The desolate scene combined with the pungent smell made the entire large area of ​​nearly 7 hectares feel cold. Quickly taking a few photos, I followed Mr. Chau deep into the village.

The first place the deputy neighbor took me to was a simple house. Inside, the first thing that caught my eye was the image of a skinny old woman over 70 years old lying curled up. Seeing the guest come in, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ly struggled to get up and whispered: “My leg had a stroke and I can’t walk. I was diagnosed with cancer in my throat. I probably won’t live much longer…”. Her husband, Mr. Nguyen Van Phong, also died of lung cancer when he was just over 50. Mrs. Ly didn’t understand why in such a short time, misfortunes kept befalling her family, but one thing she was sure of was that for more than forty years her family had lived on land contaminated with pesticides.

Handling of pesticide warehouse at Hon Tro in Dien Yen commune, Dien Chau district

The pesticide warehouse in Dien Yen commune has existed since the 70s of the last century. With 8 rows of houses storing chemicals, this can be considered one of the largest warehouses on Highway 48 and supplies pesticides and herbicides to most of the districts in the western mountainous region of Nghe An. The warehouse was used for more than 20 years, until the early 90s when it stopped, but the chemicals in the warehouse were still there. After that, because the warehouse was too old, people demolished it to build a new warehouse. The construction lasted for many months, during that time because there was no warehouse, all pesticides such as pesticides and chemicals such as Lindan, Aldrin, DDT, 666 were left exposed in the open air. When it rained, the chemicals would seep back into the soil with the rainwater and then run down the mountain slopes to the surrounding land. People at that time knew, but because their awareness of chemicals was still vague, few people were conscious of protecting them, still drinking water and planting trees on the polluted land normally. Only when dozens of people in the area died of cancer and many children were born with deformities did people begin to realize the level of danger. Showing me a notebook, recording the list of people who had died of cancer, Mr. Ho Van Truyen counted: there were about thirty people such as: Mr. Ho Nhan, nasopharyngeal cancer; Mr. Hoang Van Duyen, liver cancer; Mr. Nguyen Van Khoa, stomach cancer..., there were 6 families with children born with deformities. Even his family, with 6 siblings, has had 3 people die of cancer, none of whom have passed the age of 60, the most recent being his sister Ho Thi Lan, who died at the end of 2012 at the age of 53.

Due to the serious effects of the pesticide warehouse in Dien Yen commune, at the end of May 2013, implementing the National Target Program, the General Department of Environment went to Hon Tro area to survey and handle the pesticide warehouse. Thanks to that, more than 3,000 cubic meters of soil in the affected area were removed. However, according to Mr. Nguyen Duc Chau - Vice Chairman of Dien Yen commune: The handling was not thorough because the amount of soil removed only accounted for 50% of the affected land. Not to mention, the soil was dug up but for two months now it has still been in the warehouse, not yet moved, so the stench is even stronger. Recently, thieves took advantage of the loophole to remove two warehouse doors, making people very worried.

Currently, there are 913 pesticide residue points in the province, of which 277 points have been investigated, reviewed and analyzed for pollution levels. The results show that 265 points (accounting for 96%) exceed the permissible standards, of which 189 points cause serious and especially serious environmental pollution that need to be thoroughly treated in the period 2010 - 2015, 79 points cause environmental pollution that need to be thoroughly treated in the period 2016 - 2025. In the list of 100 areas of especially serious pollution due to residual pesticides of the National Target Program on Pollution Remediation and Environmental Improvement in the period 2012 - 2015, our province has 55 points, accounting for 55% of the total points nationwide. Many points exceeded the allowable level by thousands of times, such as the point of pesticide residue in hamlet 3, Quang Trung commune, Hung Nguyen district, where the pesticide content in soil samples was 8 times higher than the standard; the point of residue in Hoa Dong hamlet, Hoa Binh town, Tuong Duong district, where the content exceeded from 1.4 to 13,824.7 times; the point in hamlet 13, Son Hai commune, Quynh Luu district, where the content was 890 times higher.

Mrs. Ly has cancer, is paralyzed on one side, and is being cared for by her daughter.

Regarding progress, up to now, 3/55 points have been handled according to the National Target Program and 12/179 points according to Decision 1946/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister. According to the plan of the natural resources and environment sector, from now until the end of 2014, at least 52 (12 projects have been implemented and are preparing to be implemented) polluted points will have their projects completed and then the Provincial People's Committee will propose to arrange resources and request counterpart funds from the Central Government. However, the handling is still very difficult, especially the funding issue because according to regulations, each point will only receive 50% from the Central budget, the rest is counterpart funds from the province. If according to the plan, from now until 2015, this work will need at least 700 - 1,000 billion VND. That number, for a poor province like Nghe An, is too large. Besides, the relocation is an extremely difficult problem, because there are currently 423 houses and 43 headquarters located in the affected area.

According to Mr. Ho Sy Dung - Head of Nghe An Environmental Protection Department, the issue of treatment technology is also very deadlocked. Each residual point has a different type of chemical, each region has its own soil conditions, so it is impossible to apply a general treatment method. Even in the world, there is no specific treatment process. Therefore, it is very difficult to thoroughly treat. For example, the pesticide warehouse in Hon Tro (Dien Yen commune), the contaminated soil has been collected, but where to transfer it and how to treat it next is still confusing. Or like the polluted spot in Kim Lien commune (Nam Dan district), although it has been treated since 2009, the solution is still "half-hearted" in the style of zoning off the danger zone. The hottest spot is in Nghia Trung commune, Nghia Dan district, in the past 5 years, dozens of inspection teams have come to survey but so far have not been able to handle it. The fact that after the pollution level is announced, the handling is too slow or there is no action to handle it, more or less causing frustration and fatigue for the people.

Considered a type of “poison”, plant protection chemicals have left many serious consequences in terms of water pollution, poisoning humans and animals, causing natural imbalance, reducing biodiversity, causing many types of pests, creating drug resistance… In the face of this danger, in the process of overcoming it, it is necessary to thoroughly handle it, prioritizing exposed areas with high levels of pollution.

At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen propaganda and warnings for people, and limit cultivation and production on lands identified to have residual pesticides. In addition, there should be specific solutions to limit pollution caused by the use of pesticides such as: having preferential policies and support for production programs and applying organic and microbiological products in the prevention and control of harmful organisms on plant resources. Completing the legal framework for managing pesticides and building a legal framework for managing residual pesticides; strengthening education and propaganda work, disseminating the harmful effects caused by pesticide pollution in production to contribute to reducing environmental pollution.

Article and photos: My Ha