Nghi Phu: Frustration over waste stagnation from centralized slaughterhouses

(Baonghean) - Based on the reflections of local authorities and people about the fact that in hamlets 5 and 6 of Nghi Phu commune, waste from the slaughterhouse area causes serious environmental pollution, Nghe An Newspaper had an interview with comrade Hoang Thanh Tung - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghi Phu commune (Vinh city) to provide more information about this issue.

Reporter: Can you tell us the truth about the environmental pollution situation around the slaughterhouse area in hamlets 5 and 6 of Nghi Phu commune?

Comrade Hoang Thanh Tung:It is true that waste from the slaughterhouse located in Hamlet 5, Nghi Phu Commune causes environmental pollution, affecting residential areas as reported by the locality. This is a slaughterhouse built according to the city's policy with the purpose of gathering households engaged in the slaughterhouse business, minimizing environmental pollution caused by spontaneous slaughterhouses with poor drainage systems. At the same time, local authorities and functional agencies also have more advantages in managing the quality of livestock when they are brought in for slaughter.

However, the environmental sanitation around the slaughterhouse was only ensured in the early stages when the slaughtering volume was low (the slaughterhouse officially went into operation in 2013). Up to now, when the daily collection and export volume is up to about 200 pigs and 50 buffaloes and cows, the amount of waste discharged is flooded in underground sewers and flows back into ponds in residential areas.

Waste stagnates in the pond in front of Lam Bich Private Kindergarten.

The main cause is the inadequacy in the drainage system design when the drainage direction is to the West but the underground sewer system and ditches slope down to the East, causing feces and wastewater from the slaughterhouse to stagnate and cannot be drained through the main sewer.

Whenever it is sunny or windy, the stench is so strong that people living nearby cannot stand it, sometimes they have to wear masks all day. To temporarily "cope", many people have built some places to prevent waste from draining out of the sewer, so the stagnation in the sewer and surrounding areas is worse.

It is worth mentioning that the slaughterhouse area was built near Lam Bich Private Kindergarten (Hamlet 5), the sewer draining into the pond in front of the school gate is always in a state of smell. Every afternoon, many large and small trucks transporting buffaloes and cows pass through the school gate at rush hour, causing serious air pollution, greatly affecting the health of preschool children in the area.

PV:What solutions have the local authorities had?

Comrade Hoang Thanh Tung:At first, we also organized dredging and clearing of sewers to create a drainage corridor to the western connection point leading straight to Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street. But over time, that work was also ineffective.

Before the Lunar New Year 2016, we directly contacted a Japanese alkaline water manufacturing company (located in Nghi Phu small industrial park) to request support of 80 liters of alkaline water to decompose waste and deodorize the stench at the wastewater flooding points, however, it was only a temporary solution.

A sewer that cannot drain causes stagnation around it.

For Truong Lan Enterprise, regularly using electrolyzed water to treat waste and wastewater cannot be a long-term solution because of the high cost. Some households around the slaughterhouse also slaughter on a small scale at home and discharge waste into the canal system without treatment, causing more stench.

The local government and people, especially the people of Hamlet 5, Nghi Phu Commune, have repeatedly petitioned their superiors to soon have a plan to relocate the slaughterhouse out of the residential area, but so far there has been no specific plan.

Last July, Comrade Vo Viet Thanh - Secretary of Vinh City Party Committee personally led a working delegation from the City to inspect and survey the current situation and directed the locality to urgently survey and find a new suitable location for relocation.

PV:Besides the costly relocation option, is there any way to handle the situation on the spot while still ensuring a clean environment is returned to the people, comrade?

Comrade Hoang Thanh Tung:At first, we proposed the plan of building an underground waste tank, which would periodically be pumped out, but this plan was extremely expensive. The locality did not have the funds, and Truong Lan Enterprise (owner of the slaughterhouse) could not afford to use social capital. The cost of renovating and building the slaughterhouse was up to 1.2 billion VND, the city supported 300 million VND, and the slaughterhouse has only been operating effectively for 3 years. The enterprise did not agree with this plan.

Another option we have considered is to install an additional underground sewer system and build a higher drainage ditch so that waste can easily drain to the connected location, but to be honest, the locality does not know where to get the capital to do it.

We are currently looking for a relocation location that meets all criteria such as a convenient connection system, far from residential areas, but does not cause difficulties for the 50 slaughterhouse owners in the commune. However, the location found was not approved by the province, the location that meets the criteria and if the province approves, the investment capital is too large.

PV:Thank you comrade!

PV