Nghe An: “Dirty bomb” still hanging on mountain 2 years after sludge dam disaster

Quy Hop district is known as the stone and ore mining area of ​​Nghe An. Photo taken on October 15, 2018.

Lan Toong "poisonous" mountain

Knowing that we would go up Lan Toong mountain, a friend from Quy Hop said: “Why don’t you go up when there is a storm, that’s when people need to go to the newspaper to find out and report…”. But then he said: “That’s all, just go up. Go up Lan Toong mountain to see how tin mining companies comply with environmental protection laws…”.

Lan Toong Mountain is located at the intersection of Chau Hong and Chau Thanh communes. To get there, from Quy Hop town, follow National Highway 48C through Chau Quang and Chau Cuong communes. On October 15, the sun was shining brightly, from the foot of the mountain, one could clearly see the tents of tin miners on the top of the mountain.

The road up to Lan Toong Mountain, where Chau Thanh and Chau Hong communes border. In the photo: A resident collects tin on Lan Toong Mountain. Photo taken on October 15, 2018.

From here, with the help of a local guide, we followed a small, winding dirt road full of potholes, holes, and jagged rocks to go up the mountain. Occasionally, a few motorbikes would rush down from the mountain. On the motorbikes were rough sacks, and the drivers’ faces, hands, and feet were covered in mud. According to the guide: “They are local people. They go up the mountain to collect tin. People often call them “tin bandits”…. And he said that on Lan Toong mountain, there are a total of 3 tin mining companies, including: Nghe Tinh Non-ferrous Metals Joint Stock Company, Hong Bao Ngoc Company Limited, and Ha An Tin Company Limited.

There are currently 3 companies licensed to mine tin on Lan Toong Mountain. In the photo is the main mining area of ​​Ha An Tin Company Limited. Photo taken on October 15, 2018.

Since 2017, after the dam burst, Nghe Tinh Non-ferrous Metals Joint Stock Company has been suspended from mining and has not yet resumed operations. Also after the dam burst, Hong Bao Ngoc and Ha An companies also stopped mining for a while until the end of 2017. Currently, only Ha An Tin Company Limited is actively mining tin on both mountain slopes of Chau Thanh and Chau Hong communes.

After climbing the mountain for about fifty minutes, we arrived at the main mining site of Ha An Tin Company Limited. Here, in addition to the tent clusters where the workers rest, there are also some level-four houses, an ore crushing and screening station in operation, the sound of the crusher echoes throughout the mountain. Choosing a favorable observation position to have a panoramic view, it is clear that this company does not comply with environmental protection laws. This is evident in the fact that, right below the ore crushing and screening location, there is a large mountain of black sludge. This mountain of black sludge has long streams of sludge flowing down the mountainside. The guide explained: “The area where the sludge mountain was located used to be a sludge tank. However, the tank was small so the sludge was filled in…”

Tin ore waste is discharged directly in the production area, without any storage tanks of Ha An Tin Company. Photo taken on October 15, 2018.

How long has this situation been going on? The scout was upset: “Like the Non-ferrous Metal Joint Stock Company, they have a dam to contain the mud in case it breaks. As for other companies on this mountain, after the dam break, they only built a few pits. And they did it just for show. Like the Ha An Tin Company, they only roughly dug a few small pits halfway up the mountain, and in a short time, the waste mud overflowed the whole mountain. It’s still bearable when it’s sunny. If it rains, these toxic things will be dumped down, polluting Mai and Bac streams right away…”

Warehouses and workers' camps at the mining site of Ha An Tin Company Limited. Photo taken on October 15, 2018.

Continuing up the mountain, we discovered another tin ore crushing and screening site on Lan Toong Mountain, on the Chau Thanh Commune side. Here, the dam containing wastewater and sludge is a small, makeshift pit. Black sludge is piled high next to the pit. According to the guide, “this site also belongs to Ha An Tin Company Limited…”.

When it rains, this "mountain" of waste flows freely downstream, and this is one of the causes of environmental pollution for people in Chau Hong, Chau Quang communes and Quy Hop town. Photo taken on October 15, 2018.

Production and exploitation area of ​​Ha An Company Limited on Lan Toong Mountain. Photo taken on October 15, 2018.

Disregard for the law

It is known that in March 2017, after the dam containing sludge of Nghe Tinh Non-ferrous Metals Joint Stock Company broke, in addition to forcing this company to suspend mining activities and remedy environmental incidents, the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee directed the inspection of law enforcement in mining and mineral processing activities for enterprises in Quy Hop district. Through inspection of 56 mineral mining organizations, the inspection team discovered many more enterprises with violations. The Provincial People's Committee fined the violating enterprises a total of VND 2,448 billion, and revoked the right to use mineral mining licenses for a term for 7 enterprises.

The new mining site is located in Chau Thanh commune of Ha An Tin Company Limited. Photo taken on October 15, 2018.

Nine tin mining enterprises in Quy Hop district have not complied with the commitments they made in the environmental impact assessment report approved by the competent authority. These include the construction of dams and reservoirs to treat wastewater from ore selection activities and waste dumps that are not in accordance with the approved EIA report; environmental monitoring and supervision is not performed at a frequency sufficient to comply with the approved EIA; the waste storage area is not in accordance with regulations; there is no certificate of completion of environmental protection works serving the operation phase...

As for Thiec Ha An Company Limited, after inspection, it was determined that the progress of basic construction of the mine and mining activities had not been ensured; and that the general principles of construction quality management had not been followed. For mining site 1, 2 settling ponds with a total area of ​​about 500m2 were built.², the lake bank is about 3m wide, built with waste rock and soil that can be eroded when there is heavy rain; ditches have been created to drain overflowing rainwater, however this system is not yet complete; sludge from the ore selection process is dumped right next to the settling pits; a part has been transferred to a waste dump with an area of ​​about 2,000m2²However, the location of the dump is not in accordance with the planning location and is currently dumping waste across the transport route...

At the end of November 2017, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district established an inspection team according to Decision No. 2737, conducting a surprise inspection of Ha An Tin Company Limited. At the time of the inspection, the company had resumed mining activities. However, there were still violations of environmental protection. That is, in the ore selection area, the settling tank had been built, but the sludge was full; the settling tank was at risk of landslides when it rained and flooded. The inspection team requested Ha An Tin Company Limited to transport the sludge to the collection point according to the approved plan; regularly inspect and take measures to build additional settling tanks that are safe to avoid landslides; and to report on environmental protection and environmental monitoring programs according to the provisions of law...

Thus, in 2017 alone, the competent authority inspected the mining activities of Ha An Tin Company Limited twice, and pointed out violations in compliance with environmental protection laws. However, with what was witnessed on October 15 on Lan Toong Mountain, Ha An Tin Company Limited violated again!

Is there a state of relaxation?

Working with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quy Hop district, it was learned that in 2018, the People's Committee of this district had established an interdisciplinary inspection team to inspect the mineral exploitation activities of enterprises in the area. However, on April 11, 2018, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision 1342/QD-UBND to establish an interdisciplinary team to inspect compliance with the law on minerals and labor safety in mineral exploitation activities, so the district's team stopped and handed over all related documents.

Inquiring about the environmental law compliance inspection of Ha An Tin Company Limited by the Interdisciplinary Inspection Team under Decision No. 1342, in June 2018, the inspection team only "discovered" two minor shortcomings of this company. That is: "The embankment and the bottom of the settling pond have not been covered with tarpaulin; Hazardous waste is still mixed together and not classified according to regulations".

Signs of sludge from tin mining activities on Lan Toong Mountain flowing down the mountain foot. Photo: Photo taken on October 15, 2018.

According to the Tin Mining License of Ha An Tin Company Limited, the tin mining area is in the East of Suoi Bac Tin Mine, located in Chau Hong and Chau Thanh communes. Total area is 17.12 hectares; reserves of 423,246 tons of ore; mining capacity is 20,000 tons/year; mining period is 24 years. With the mining capacity as stated in the license being extremely large, the question needs to be asked: Have the environmental protection works and measures that Ha An Tin Company Limited implemented before organizing mining activities been inspected and evaluated by the competent authorities in accordance with the Environmental Impact Assessment Report approved by the Provincial People's Committee in Decision 2495/QD-UBND.DC or not?

A tin selection site at the foot of Lan Toong Mountain. Photo taken on October 15, 2018.

From the reality witnessed on October 15 on Lan Toong Mountain, it is confirmed that this is still a black spot of environmental pollution, continuing to cause harm to the localities of Chau Hong, Chau Cuong, Chau Quang and Quy Hop town. Therefore, it is recommended that competent authorities strictly inspect and monitor the activities of mineral mining companies, especially Ha An Tin Company Limited and other mineral mining enterprises on Lan Toong Mountain, in order to strictly handle them according to the provisions of the law!.