Scandalous corporate waste discharges

Many scandalous environmental violations in recent years have shown that balancing economic development and environmental protection is a difficult problem to solve.

Vedan discharges waste into Thi Vai River

From the reflection and frustration of local people about the situation of secretly discharging untreated wastewater into the environment, after more than 3 months of monitoring, on September 13, 2008, the interdisciplinary inspection team caught Vedan Company (a Taiwanese, Chinese FDI enterprise) in Long Thanh district, Dong Nai province discharging a large amount of untreated wastewater into Thi Vai river.

The mouth of the untreated waste discharge pipe at the wharf of Vedan Company is discharging waste. Photo: Department of Environmental Protection

According to the investigation results of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, this enterprise had 10 violations, in which the wastewater exceeded the limit by 10 times.permissible standardFor the factory producing modified starch, monosodium glutamate and lysine... According to the initial statement of the leader of Vedan, the amount of post-fermentation waste that the company's factories discharged directly into Thi Vai River was only approximately 45,000 m3 per month. However, the number that the inspection team concluded was more than double that, 105,600 m3 per month.

At the end of that year, the Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment issued a decision to impose an administrative fine on Vedan for environmental protection violations with a total fine of VND267.5 million, forcing it to pay environmental protection fees of more than VND127 billion.

Tung Kuang discharges waste into Ghe River

In April 2010, Tung Kuang Company (100% Taiwanese, Chinese capital) in Hai Duong was caught red-handed by the police discharging untreated wastewater directly into the environment, with toxic concentrations exceeding the prescribed threshold. The incident was considered as serious as Vedan.

Tung Kuang's rather tricky hidden exhaust system. Photo: PV

According to the Environmental Police Department, the company's wastewater contains many toxic chemicals such as Chrome 6 (10 times higher than the permitted standard), manganese, iron... all of which have levels exceeding regulations.

Responding to VnExpress at that time, Tung Kuang said he reduced monthly expenses by 80-100 million VND. This is the savings that helped the company survive the global economic recession.Although there is a proposal to prosecute the business leader, however,This company was later fined only 312 million VND for the above violation.

Hyundai - Vinashin discharge waste into Van Phong Bay

In April 2011, the Environmental Crime Prevention Police Department (PC49), Khanh Hoa Provincial Police caught Hyundai - Vinashin Shipyard Company Limited (HVS) discharging untreated liquid waste into Van Phong Bay. HVS is a joint venture between Hyundai Group (Korea) and Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.

During the inspection at HVS, the environmental police force discovered that in the canteen area No. 4 (used for about 1,000 workers), there was no waste treatment system. All waste from the canteen, including the toilet (septic tank), was discharged directly into the sea at port No. 3. According to calculations, the amount of dirty waste discharged into the sea is 25m3 per day and night.

Hyundai - Vinashin dumps waste into the environment. Photo: SGGP

The factory’s liquid waste caused a heavy stench in the sea, causing mass deaths of fish and other marine life, the disappearance of sea urchins, and the loss of fishermen’s traditional fishing profession. This was not the company’s first violation; in 2008, HVS was caught red-handed by environmental police dumping hundreds of tons of industrial sludge into the environment in Ninh Diem commune. The company was later fined only VND65 million.

Sonadezi discharges waste into Dong Nai River

Sonadezi Service Joint Stock Company (Vietnam) under Sonadezi Corporation is the operator of the wastewater treatment plant of Long Thanh Industrial Park, Dong Nai.

In August 2011, after ambushing and monitoring, the environmental police raided the Sonadezi Wastewater Treatment Plant and discovered that the water flowing out of the ecological pond (for wastewater treatment) was very foul-smelling and pitch black.

Sonadezi discharges waste, polluting Dong Nai River. Photo: SGGP

This factory has a wastewater treatment capacity of about 100,000 m3 per day and night, collecting wastewater from 65/66 companies in the industrial park (mainly textile and dyeing) for treatment through disinfection tanks, concentrated ponds, and finishing ponds. According to the process, wastewater is discharged into the ecological pond, and after reaching the standard, it is discharged into Ba Cheo canal, and into Dong Nai river. However, when the authorities inspected, untreated wastewater from the factory was being discharged directly into the environment.The company was later fined 405 million VND and required to remedy some consequences.

Hoa Binh sugarcane discharges waste into Buoi river

This is the most recent incident and is receiving a lot of public attention. The factory is in the process of testing.Hoa Binh Sugarcane Joint Stock Company hasThe wastewater treatment system has not been completed. Therefore, wastewater is collected in some small reservoirs in the factory area. On May 3-4, because the reservoirs were too full, the company discharged untreated wastewater directly into the upper reaches of the Buoi River (Thanh Hoa), causing mass fish deaths in the past few days.

The Hoa Binh Sugarcane discharge incident recorded an estimated 30km stretch of dead aquatic animals along the Buoi River. Photo: Le Hoang

As of the afternoon of May 6, in addition to fish living in the natural environment, nearly 7 tons of fish raised in cages on the Buoi River by people in the communes of Thach Lam, Thach Quang, Thach Cam, Thanh My (Thach Thanh district) had died. The area of ​​recorded dead aquatic products is estimated to be 30 km along the river. Currently, the management agency has not decided on the form of punishment for this company.

This is the third time in recent years that a mass fish death has occurred on the Buoi River. Previously, in December 2013, the water in the upper reaches of the Buoi River, flowing through Thach Lam Commune, suddenly turned black and smelled bad, and fish died en masse. The Thanh Hoa Department of Environmental Protection later concluded that the mass fish deaths in the upper reaches of the Buoi River were caused by the Hoa Binh tapioca starch processing factory (headquartered in Lac Son, Hoa Binh).

According to VNE