Environmental Pollution from Fishmeal Processing Plant

(Baonghean) -After many unsuccessful requests to the business owner to handle the foul smell coming from the Fishmeal Processing Factory of the Pacific Seafood Import-Export Trading and Service Joint Stock Company, many households in Quyet Tam hamlet, Quynh Lap commune (Quynh Luu) were forced to send a "cry for help" to the district government and provincial authorities. Through the petitions of the people, we went to this small hamlet located on the banks of Mai Giang and discovered some more stories that need to be told...

The house is a few hundred meters away from the fishmeal processing facility, so Mr. Hoang Van Tru is one of many people living in Quyet Tam hamlet, Quynh Lap commune (Quynh Luu) who always has to endure the stench when the factory burns the furnace. Mr. Tru indignantly said: "In Quyet Tam hamlet, you can ask any resident and they will all say they cannot stand the stench when the factory burns the furnace to dry fish like me! We have repeatedly gone down to the factory to ask the business owner to find a solution, but they do not care." Mr. Ngo Gia Hien - another resident continued: "The stench not only rises every time the furnace is lit, but also appears on the road from National Highway 1A to the Factory due to the tanker truck carrying raw materials (mainly fish) leaking water into the ground. In addition, the stench also escapes from the drainage to Lach Thoi area. At first, they took fish from local people to process, so the smell was less, but later, the raw materials were taken from places like Cua Lo, Dien Chau and even Thanh Hoa. The fish from those places all smelled rotten and unbearable."

Waste collection and treatment system of Fishmeal Processing Factory, Pacific Seafood Import-Export Company.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thai - Director of Thai Binh Duong Seafood Import Export Trading and Service Joint Stock Company said that the factory has just come into operation, the power source is not stable, so many times when bringing raw materials back, we have to wait 4-5 hours for the electricity to be strong enough for the machine to run. At times like that, we cannot avoid the smell of rotten fish. Also because the factory has just come into operation (May 2012), people are not used to the strange smell, so sometimes they come in to cause trouble, which is not right. Before investing in this fishmeal processing facility, Mr. Thai consulted many factories, then chose a closed-loop production line, meaning that fresh fish materials are brought into the dam, then dried and then go through a hot treatment process to release steam and become powder. Regarding the wastewater treatment system, there are 4 closed settling tanks in the biogas tank style with a designed discharge of 30m3/h.

Directly investigating the fishmeal production line of this factory, we found many differences compared to Mr. Thai's presentation. The first image at the raw fish gathering point before going onto the conveyor belt was a swarm of maggots crawling on the floor, accompanied by the unpleasant stench of rotten fish. We observed that the factory did not have a cold storage to preserve the raw materials. During the processing process, along with the extraction of water into the wastewater treatment system, the fish smell evaporated through the chimney directly into the sky, without going through any other processing step. Therefore, the fact that people "complained" that they could not stand the smell of rotten fish and the smell of dried fish when burning the furnace is an issue that needs to be addressed by this enterprise soon.

Not only causing environmental pollution, the construction and operation of this factory also shows the frequent passing of many foreigners (Chinese). At the time the reporter was present in the factory premises, we counted a total of 9 people (men, women, middle-aged and young), but the leader of this enterprise could only produce 7 passports. Explaining this issue, Mr. Thai said: “Because the enterprise bought the production line from China, they sent 3 technical staff to assemble and instruct the operation; in addition, there were their wives, children (2 young people studying at university in Hanoi) and some friends who occasionally passed by and stopped by to visit. Every time like that, we reported to the commune police to request residence.”

According to the leader of Quynh Lap commune, although the commune police have been assigned to supervise, the locality still cannot manage everything, because it mainly relies on the self-declaration of businesses. In the books and documents, there were only 4-5 people, but now seeing 9 people is a bit surprising!

The frequent visits of many Chinese people have made the suspicion that foreigners are using local names and local land to "illegally invest" in Quynh Lap land more and more grounded, especially when we asked to see the import and export books of the Factory recently, we received a rather innocent answer from the local leaders: "We only have 2 families helping each other, so we have never done this before."

Having only been in operation for more than 2 months, the fishmeal factory with a capacity of 30 tons/day in Quyet Tam hamlet, Quynh Lap commune has revealed many problems that need to be promptly corrected. Chairman of Quynh Luu District People's Committee - Mr. Le Duc Cuong said, "After receiving feedback from the people as well as the recognition of the commune government, the District People's Committee assigned the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to inspect the environmental pollution issue but has not yet had a specific report. Regarding the management of foreigners, they have an entry visa and are of course allowed to come and go, but when residing at the factory, they must be monitored and supervised regularly. The district will direct a closer inspection of this matter."

Enterprises polluting the environment are well-founded, but to what extent? What are the shortcomings? And especially the issue of managing foreigners at the fishmeal processing facility in Quynh Lap are urgent and sensitive issues. I think this is no longer a problem of Quynh Luu district alone, but needs the involvement of provincial authorities before the matter gets too far!

Xuan Hai - Cong Sang