Nghe An: 48/77 establishments cause serious environmental pollution

(Baonghean) -That is the information given by Mr. Ho Sy Dung - Head of the Provincial Department of Environmental Protection in a recent interview with Nghe An Newspaper.

Wastewater treatment system at Hoa Son Cassava Starch Processing Factory (Anh Son district) meets standards before being discharged into the environment.

PV:Could you please tell us about the current implementation of environmental protection laws in the province in recent times and the consequences?

Mr. Ho Sy Dung:To implement and bring the Law on Environmental Protection 2014 into life, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue Decision No. 1122/QD-UBND, dated March 27, 2015, on promulgating the Plan to implement the Law on Environmental Protection 2014; Decision No. 32/2016/QD-UBND, dated April 7, 2016, on promulgating regulations on environmental protection in Nghe An province.

Through this, it affirms that the responsibility of environmental protection belongs to the entire political system and the whole society; at the same time, it specifies the functions, tasks and responsibilities of all levels and sectors for this work.

Thanks to that, the awareness of Party committees, authorities, businesses and people about environmental protection has been raised; the budget for environmental protection at each level has been supplemented in an increasing direction. State management of environmental protection has many innovations, especially the inspection, examination and supervision of compliance with environmental laws. Socialization in the field of environmental protection has been promoted, especially in the field of attracting investment in the treatment of domestic solid waste, concentrated wastewater treatment in industrial parks, etc.

On the side of production and business establishments, including public service units, attention has been paid to environmental protection work through the construction and installation of qualified waste treatment systems, installation of automatic environmental monitoring systems... Thanks to that, a number of establishments have been removed from the list of establishments causing environmental pollution (ONMT) and serious environmental pollution (ONMTNT)...

However, frankly speaking, environmental protection work in the province still has many shortcomings and limitations that have not been thoroughly resolved. First of all, the progress in handling environmental pollution and environmental pollution facilities is still slow. The whole province currently has 48/77 facilities causing environmental pollution and environmental pollution. The situation of organizations and individuals exploiting minerals not performing or not performing well their obligations to improve and restore the environment after mine closure is quite common.

Another problem is that up to now there has been no effective solution to treat domestic waste and livestock waste in rural areas. The abuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agricultural production is quite common, affecting the environment of groundwater, surface water, and polluting the soil.

PV:So what is the cause of the limited awareness of environmental protection law compliance among organizations and individuals?

Mr. Ho Sy Dung:First of all, the awareness and sense of responsibility of many organizations and individuals, especially enterprises, is not high, leading to the investment in building waste treatment systems, commitments and environmental protection measures stated in the EIA Report/Environmental Protection Project/Environmental Protection Commitment not being seriously implemented by investors.

Therefore, untreated waste or waste that has not been treated properly is still discharged into the environment. Currently, most facilities in the province have not arranged for staff with expertise in environmental protection as prescribed in the Law on Environmental Protection 2014.

The Party committees and authorities of some localities have not really paid attention to environmental protection work. The staff of cadres and civil servants working on environmental protection at the district and commune levels is both lacking in quantity and limited in quality; many units are assigned to hold multiple jobs: land administration, construction, environment, etc.

Along with the above issues, the allocation and arrangement of funds for state management activities in the field of environmental protection, although receiving additional attention, has not met the requirements at the provincial level and is more limited at the district and commune levels.

Therefore, in environmental control activities at district and commune levels, there is almost no budget for sampling and sample analysis, but mainly through visual methods; in addition, the means and techniques are not yet equipped, affecting the conclusions related to environmental pollution indicators according to regulations.

On the other hand, coordination between levels, sectors and localities in environmental protection work is not regular, drastic and not tight. State management functions in some areas such as solid waste management, river basin management, biodiversity conservation management... are unclear and overlapping.

PV:It can be said that the system of documents regulating environmental protection is gradually being improved from the central to local levels. However, from awareness to action is a long process and requires stronger and more drastic solutions. Could you please share some solutions and measures to ensure that the Law on Environmental Protection and documents are implemented more effectively in practice?

Mr. Ho Sy Dung:Environmental protection is the responsibility of the whole society, as affirmed in the Law on Environmental Protection 2014. Therefore, to continue to create more positive and effective changes in the coming time, it is necessary to do better in propaganda work, raise awareness and responsibility of Party committees at all levels, authorities, political systems, people of all walks of life and the business community.

Along with that, with the responsibility assigned to manage the State in this field, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment will continue to review the Central Government's environmental protection policies and laws to specify them to the specific conditions of the province; similarly, each industry and locality also needs to specify them in their units and localities.

All levels and sectors need to pay special attention to strictly managing the assessment of environmental impacts and considering the risks of environmental pollution of investment projects; focusing on the survey stage of site selection and technology selection, not attracting investment in types with high risks of environmental pollution; along with that, monitoring the compliance with environmental protection laws for establishments.

Along with that, each level and each sector focuses on the work of inspecting, checking and controlling environmental pollution periodically and suddenly to assess, warn and predict the risk of "hot spots" and environmental incidents at production and business establishments; especially production and business establishments with high risk of waste discharge.

Along with that, it is necessary to strictly handle organizations and individuals who violate environmental protection laws. At the same time, it is necessary to demonstrate a resolute attitude in suspending or banning activities in cases of serious violations and forcing polluting establishments to implement environmental restoration measures according to regulations, ensuring real deterrence.

On the other hand, it is necessary to increase resources from the budget and mobilize socialization in investing and perfecting the general environmental protection infrastructure and in each facility, including public facilities and production and business establishments in a synchronous and efficient manner, especially facilities with high risks of environmental pollution, industrial parks, industrial clusters, urban areas, etc.; strengthen environmental monitoring activities to improve warning capacity, promptly detect and prevent environmental pollution, etc.

PV:Thank you!

Minh Chi(Perform)