Nghe An: Many industrial clusters still do not have wastewater treatment systems.

Lack of synchronous wastewater treatment system

According to the industrial park development plan, the whole province will build 52 industrial parks with a total area of ​​1,216.76 hectares. Up to now, 23 industrial parks have been put into operation, attracting 251 investment projects, mainly in the fields of mineral processing, textiles, mechanical processing, metal recycling, plastic product recycling, packaging production... Although these groups of fields all have a high risk of pollution, especiallywater pollution, but in reality, there are only 10 industrial parks with wastewater treatment systems, but they are mainly treated in settling ponds.

The settling pond at Dien Hong Industrial Park - Dien Chau has been covered with duckweed for several years now. Photo: Tien Dong

At the locationDien Chau districtCurrently, there are 2 industrial parks in operation, namely Dien Hong Industrial Park and Thap - Hong - Ky Industrial Park. Regarding Dien Hong Industrial Park, due to the previous rapid development of steel smelting, scrap purchasing and recycling facilities in residential areas, on August 3, 2004, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 3940/QD-UBND.CN approving detailed planning, gathering production facilities into one unit for systematic management and operation. Currently, this industrial park has an area of ​​10 hectares, with 41 production and business facilities in operation, mainly in the field of scrap purchasing and processing.

There were many times when households purchasing and processing scrap metal dumped scrap metal onto the road in Dien Hong Industrial Park, forcing local authorities to intervene. Photo: Tien Dong

In spite ofDien Hong Industrial ParkThere were 3 wastewater settling ponds, however these settling ponds are now covered with duckweed. Moreover, wastewater in the area is not completely collected here. A resident in Dien Hong commune said: When it rains, wastewater from scrap overflows onto the street, seeps into the ground, making everyone who witnesses it feel scared.

Located not far from Dien Hong Industrial Park is Thap - Hong - Ky Industrial Park, west of National Highway 1A. This is one of the large-scale concentrated industrial parks in Dien Chau, approved by the Provincial People's Committee under Decision No. 3981/QD-UBND.CN dated October 5, 2007, with an area of ​​26 hectares. On March 31, 2014, the environmental impact assessment report was approved according to Decision 1184/QD-UBND, then started operating. Currently, this industrial park has 31 registered establishments.

The centralized wastewater treatment system at Thap - Hong - Ky Industrial Park was invested with more than 6 billion VND but rarely operates. Photo: Tien Dong

In 2010, Dien Chau District People's Committee decided to build a wastewater collection and treatment station with a treatment capacity of about 300 m³/day and night, worth 6.1 billion VND at Thap - Hong - Ky Industrial Park. However, after completion and trial run in 2012 until now, this project has been operating at a low level. Although it rarely operates, every year, this locality has to spend nearly 100 million VND to hire 2 security guards.

Although there is a wastewater treatment plant, it is not in continuous operation, so for a long time now most of the production facilities in the area have beenCCN Thap – Hong – Kyalmost self-treating wastewater, then discharging it into the environment through ditches.

In Quy Hop, there are 6 industrial parks with 93 production facilities, including the following industrial parks: Thung Khuoc, Chau Quang, Chau Hong, Tho Son 1, Tho Son 2, Chau Loc. Like many other places, the industrial parks here do not have a centralized wastewater treatment system.

Thung Khuoc Industrial Park in Quy Hop town was established in 2005 with 26 operating facilities. However, due to the lack of a centralized wastewater treatment system, wastewater from most facilities is treated roughly and then discharged directly into the environment.

For example, in Tho Hop commune, there are 2 industrial clusters Tho Son 1 and 2, which were approved for detailed planning in 2015, with a total of 34 operating enterprises but still do not have a centralized wastewater treatment system. Local people have petitioned to completely handle the water pollution from these industrial clusters.

Currently, all 6 industrial parks in Quy Hop district do not have a centralized wastewater treatment system. Photo: Tien Dong

Mr. Lang Van Dung - Chairman of Tho Hop Commune People's Committee said: In these industrial parks, most of the enterprises come to open factories first, then the government follows the planning for them. Because there is no centralized wastewater treatment point, it leads to the risk of environmental pollution.

There is no CCN management model yet.

Mr. Kim Thanh Xuyen - Head of the Department of Planning and Investment of Quy Hop district said that the characteristics of industrial clusters in Quy Hop district are that enterprises spontaneously choose the location of their production facilities and then plan for management. The reason for not having a centralized wastewater treatment area, according to Mr. Xuyen, is due to lack of funds, because to invest in such a system requires about 10 billion VND. Although Decision 45/2015/QD-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee on August 26, 2015 stipulates a maximum support level of 6 billion VND for the construction of wastewater treatment systems in industrial clusters. However, in reality, it is very difficult to arrange resources to implement the construction.

We raised the issue of shortcomings in local industrial parks, especially the wastewater treatment system at Dien Hong Industrial Park and Thap - Hong - Ky Industrial Park. Mr. Le Manh Hien - Vice Chairman of Dien Chau District People's Committee said: At Thap - Hong - Ky Industrial Park, due to the lack of a management board and operating costs (purchase of chemicals, electricity, machinery), the wastewater treatment plant here has not been operating effectively for a long time. At Dien Hong Industrial Park, due to the poor awareness of production facilities, waste materials are dumped on the streets, causing environmental pollution and water pollution.

Despite billions of dollars in investment, the centralized wastewater treatment plant at Thap - Hong - Ky Industrial Park is mostly "covered up". Photo: Tien Dong

Mr. Le Manh Hien also said that the cost of building and upgrading wastewater treatment systems is paid by the locality, the treatment costs should be paid by the enterprises, but up to now in both industrial parks, the production facilities have not had to pay any costs.

In particular, the biggest problem at present in industrial clusters is that although they are under the management of the district level, there are currently no regulations or organizational models to manage industrial clusters. Therefore, localities are having to assign staff to do concurrent management work. This makes the operational model of industrial clusters not very effective. Many pressing problems arise, especially environmental pollution and water pollution, but they are very difficult to completely resolve.