Many abnormalities at 2 mines in Dien Chau
Located in Dien Loi commune, Dien Chau district, both mines of Thien Hoang Equipment Joint Stock Company and Hoang Phuc Company Limited are exploiting beyond the boundary with large areas.
"History" of violations
Thien Hoang Equipment Joint Stock Company (headquartered in Nghi Huong Ward, Cua Lo Town) and Hoang Phuc Company Limited (headquartered in Dien Thinh Commune, Dien Chau District) were licensed for two mines located quite close to each other in Dien Loi Commune (Dien Chau). Of which, the mine of Thien Hoang Equipment Joint Stock Company has a planned area of more than 22 hectares, phase 1 has only licensed 15 hectares, 7 hectares have not been licensed, with a mine reserve of nearly 3.4 million cubic meters. Meanwhile, the mine of Hoang Phuc Company Limited, with a licensed exploitation area of more than 10 hectares, has a reserve of more than 1.3 million cubic meters.
Both of these quarries were licensed to exploit materials for filling the North-South Expressway and for a number of projects in Dien Chau district. Although they were recently licensed, many violations have been discovered at these two quarries.
Specifically, on November 28, 2022, both of these units were administratively sanctioned by the People's Committee of Dien Chau district for the same violation of "occupying production forest land in rural areas from July 20, 2022 for use for mineral exploitation purposes in Dien Loi commune". In which, the violating area of Hoang Phuc Company Limited is 5,063.5m2; and Thien Hoang Equipment Joint Stock Company violated an area of 9,857.9m2The amount of money that these two units were fined is more than 100 million VND.
Despite having a "history" of violations, these two units did not learn from their mistakes but continued to violate at a more serious level. On June 5, 2024, the People's Committee of Dien Loi commune issued Report No. 271/UBND on the current status of land mining by the Joint Venture of Thien Hoang Equipment Joint Stock Company and Hoang Phuc Company Limited to the People's Committee of Dien Chau district. This report clearly stated that on May 19, 2024, the People's Committee of Dien Loi commune coordinated with the joint venture of the two above-mentioned units to conduct a field inspection of the locations of landmarks of each mine. During the inspection, it was discovered that the units had exploited outside the licensed area.
Accordingly, the mine of Thien Hoang Equipment Joint Stock Company exploited outside the mine scope including 3 locations, the violating area is about 19,589m2.2(nearly 2 hectares). Hoang Phuc Company Limited's mine exploited outside the licensed mine area in 1 location, with a violation area of 1,454m2.2.
In addition, the People's Committee of Dien Loc commune also pointed out the current situation, during the exploitation process, Hoang Phuc Company Limited arbitrarily expanded some points beyond the old road's landmark by 3-5m, with some bends from 7-8m. The People's Committee of the commune discovered and worked with Hoang Phuc Company Limited, and at the same time sent a report to the People's Committee of Dien Chau district and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Dien Chau district (in 2022, 2023), requesting inspection and handling.
Serious nature!
From the above violation, on July 30, 2024, the leaders of Dien Chau District People's Committee organized an inspection team to inspect mineral exploitation activities, land management, construction and ensure order and traffic safety related to 2 mines in Dien Loi commune.
At the meeting, the inspection team requested the units to provide relevant legal documents. However, through the inspection, the units have not provided the mine design documents as well as the mine access route design documents that have been appraised and approved by the investment decision maker according to the provisions of the Construction Law; at the same time, there are no acceptance documents, construction logs, quality management documents of items, acceptance documents of completed project items, completion of the project to put the project into use according to regulations; there are no management and control documents of daily exploitation, management documents of vehicles entering and leaving the mine; there are no related site clearance plan documents...
At the scene, the inspection team of Dien Chau District People's Committee also discovered some other problems in these two mines. Most notably, during the exploitation process, Thien Hoang Equipment Joint Stock Company lost the boundary markers of the permitted mining area. At the two mines, Thien Hoang Equipment Joint Stock Company and Hoang Phuc Company Limited are both exploiting beyond the licensed mine boundary markers. This is a violation of the law on mineral exploitation. Dien Loi Commune People's Committee reported that they had inspected and requested to stop mining beyond the mine boundary markers, but the units still deliberately violated.
Not to mention, the transportation of mined soil does not comply with regulations on monitoring and managing reserves, there is no weighing station to check the load, vehicles are not cleaned before leaving the mine, some vehicles are not covered during transportation, causing environmental pollution, affecting the lives of people around.
The inspection team also determined that the construction of mine infrastructure and traffic routes connecting N2 road to the mine was not in accordance with current procedures and regulations: The mining infrastructure such as the operator's house, weighing station, car wash area has not been fully built, and the mining measures have not been ensured according to regulations; the construction of the roads to the mines has not been completed and the results of the acceptance test have not been approved by the specialized construction agency and put into use according to regulations; in reality, the roads are damaged, the road surface is cracked, the roadbed and curbs have sunk in many locations, the traffic safety system is not guaranteed, there is a lot of mud on the road surface, causing difficulty in traveling, environmental pollution, affecting the lives of people on both sides of the route.
In fact, according to our observations (PV), as well as the report of the People's Committee of Dien Loi commune and the opinions of local people where the soil transportation route passes through, the mining and transportation units with many heavy-duty vehicles cause damage to the road, causing dust, affecting people's lives (including on the asphalt road DH.256 through the center of Dien Loi commune).
Mr. Le Van Thuan - Chairman of Dien Loi Commune People's Committee said that the commune has worked with Thien Hoang Equipment Joint Stock Company and Hoang Phuc Company Limited many times, but the units still do not comply with environmental pollution treatment. Therefore, on June 25 and June 26, 2024, local people and Dien Loi Commune People's Committee organized inspection posts, requiring mining units and transport vehicles to comply with regulations, organize road repairs, watering, and cover truck beds to avoid affecting people's lives. However, in reality, the route for transporting materials from the two mines to the foot of the construction site is still full of dust and seriously polluted.
Regarding the above 2 units exploiting beyond the permitted area with a large area, Mr. Thuan also said that the commune has proactively inspected several times every month. In fact, after discovering the exploitation beyond the scope, it has reported to the district for inspection and handling. The commune People's Committee has also worked and requested to stop the exploitation beyond the scope, but the units still deliberately violated.
However, in our opinion, the inspection and handling of these two units is slow. Since June 5, 2024, the People's Committee of Dien Loi commune reported on the illegal exploitation, but it was not until the end of July that the People's Committee of Dien Chau district went to inspect. Mr. Ngo Thanh Binh - Deputy Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Dien Chau district in charge of Dien Loi commune explained the reason was because at that time there was "a lot of work".
It is known that on August 7, 2024, the People's Committee of Dien Loi commune issued Notice No. 370/TB-UBND requesting Hoang Phuc Company Limited to immediately stop exploiting land outside the mine planning area; and Thien Hoang Equipment Company Limited to immediately stop exploiting outside the mine area and outside the scope of the phase 1 mine license.
Dien Loi Commune People's Committee also requested these two companies to cooperate and coordinate with the locality to measure the volume of land exploited outside the licensed and planned mining area to have specific and accurate data to serve the handling of administrative violations.
"Currently, the local government is still waiting for the measurement results to determine the area and volume of violations and have a basis to submit to the competent authority for punishment," added Mr. Le Van Thuan - Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Loi commune.
On August 9, 2024, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment issued Document No. 5542/STNMT-KS on the inspection of mineral exploitation activities in Dien Chau district, requesting Dien Chau district to urgently establish an inspection team to inspect mineral activities in the district (including the above-mentioned 2 mines in Dien Loi commune).
On the same day, the People's Committee of Dien Chau district also sent an official dispatch to the People's Committee of Dien Loi commune to urge the preparation of documents to handle violations of legal regulations on mineral exploitation activities for two land mines in Dien Loi commune.
