Lessons and requirements

(Baonghean) -For nearly 2 months now, public opinion across the country has been abuzz with the fact that some residents of Quang Lang village (Thuy Hai commune, Thai Thuy, Thai Binh) have built a wall in front of the Thuy Hai Fishmeal Factory due to environmental pollution. The factory was forced to close, causing economic losses of nearly 1 billion VND per day. Initial investigation results show that: "There is environmental pollution but it is not yet serious", "The factory has a wastewater treatment system but it is not synchronous and outdated, not meeting requirements"...

From this expensive lesson, we must review similar environmental violations in Nghe An to be determined to have synchronous planning and implement the policy of applying clean technology - something that businesses are still indifferent to, causing public outrage.

The most typical lesson was in 2006, when 200 people from Nghia Quang Commune (Nghia Dan) gathered at the Viet Trung Wood Factory to demand that production be stopped and environmental pollution be remedied. The tension was so great that the factory had to move, costing billions of dong. Then came the two cassava flour factories of Yen Thanh and Thanh Chuong, which, because they polluted an entire residential area and killed fish in the Lam River, had to temporarily stop production and build a wastewater system. The two factories that stopped operating suffered billions of dong in losses, and several thousand tons of harvested cassava rotted. It was thought that after those incidents, industrial production and business establishments would have learned their lessons. Unexpectedly, the situation has become more serious recently.

Scrap iron processing facility pollutes the environment in Dien Hong (Dien Chau).
Photo: Chau Lan

In January 2010, some Nghia Dan residents dug up the road to prevent vehicles from entering the Hai Hoa mini cassava factory, forcing the factory to close. Then, angry residents of Dai Son commune (Do Luong) marched to the Thai Duong livestock facility to destroy machinery and factories because of environmental pollution.

Not only that, the two largest factories in the province: Saigon - Song Lam Brewery and Sabeco Packaging Factory were also protested by the people and had to pay compensation for environmental pollution. The brewery was fined 72.5 million VND and collected over 1 billion VND in environmental protection fees, but the people of Truong Thi and Hung Dung wards still wrote petitions. For Sabeco Factory, the situation is "calmer", because the factory admitted that its wastewater has not been treated.

Most recently (April 2011), Hoang Linh Plastic Joint Stock Company (in Hung Loc Industrial Park, Vinh City) was attacked by commune officials and dozens of local residents who broke into the factory to film and take pictures, demanding that production be suspended and environmental pollution be remedied. In addition, during the recent Vinh City People's Council meeting, residents reported that the river water (Hung Tay and Hung Dong sections) was polluted due to the discharge of water by Phuc Thinh Company Limited and Viet Nhat Roofing Company.

In 2010, 14 units were administratively fined for violations of varying degrees due to violations of environmental protection regulations, including units that have long been thought to be "peaceful" and rarely reported by the public, such as: Song Lam Sugarcane Joint Stock Company, Mineral Development Company 4, Nghe An Food Joint Stock Company, Concentrated Pineapple Juice Processing Factory, Seafood Import-Export Joint Stock Company, Cua Hoi Frozen Seafood Processing Factory, Song Lam Paper Joint Stock Company, Meat Export Processing Factory, Hoang Mai Brick Factory, Intimex Company, Industrial Shrimp Environmental Project, Nghe An Seafood Joint Stock Company... The violations committed by the above units are: Not building a wastewater treatment system according to registration; not collecting domestic wastewater, not having a discharge license; not managing hazardous waste according to regulations...

The common cause of environmental pollution by manufacturing enterprises is the disregard for pollution and refusal to invest in building waste treatment systems.

Another reason is that the overall planning is still lacking in consistency. Even Bac Vinh Industrial Park, which has been operating for over 10 years and has attracted 29 projects that have filled 60 hectares of land, still does not have a centralized wastewater treatment facility; Nam Cam Industrial Park is the same, after 5 years of operation, it has not yet completed the planning of the solid waste collection area and the centralized wastewater treatment area. Small industrial parks even lack the mandatory requirements in this planning.

On the other hand, most production facilities in our province, due to lack of capital and lack of access to new information and technology, have generally backward production lines, equipment, raw materials, and chemical usage methods. For example, the whole country has abandoned the dusty vertical kiln cement production technology for a long time, switching to "rotary kiln" technology and modern dust treatment machines, but we still apply vertical kiln technology. That is a burden that Anh Son 12/9 Cement Factory and Cau Duoc Cement Factory have to overcome, which is costly and long-term.

Nowadays, along with synchronous planning and investment in modern waste and wastewater treatment systems, the application of clean technology is being applied. For our province, facing the widespread and serious environmental pollution, we must pay attention to both.

Hoang Chinh