Strict action will be taken against violations at the Len Chua quarry.

Request to revoke the license.

The Len Chua quarry (Quynh Xuan ward, Hoang Mai town) has historically had three companies licensed by the Nghe An Provincial People's Committee to exploit minerals: Thanh Xuan Co., Ltd., Xuan Hung Co., Ltd., and Xuan Chung Co., Ltd.

In September and October 2017, Nghe An Newspaper published several articles reflecting on violations related to mineral exploitation and the construction of concrete mixing plants at the Len Chua quarry in Quynh Xuan ward, Hoang Mai town. Specifically, the violations involved mining activities exceeding the permitted boundaries and quarrying below the 0-level elevation. Furthermore, businesses also constructed two illegal concrete mixing plants in the Len Chua quarry area.

The concrete mixing plant of Xuan Hung Co., Ltd. was built illegally. Photo: Nguyen Hung

In fact, violations by businesses at the Len Chua quarry were discovered by authorities as early as the end of 2016. In Official Document No. 4586, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment specifically stated that the businesses operating at the Len Chua quarry, namely Thanh Xuan Co., Ltd. and Xuan Hung Co., Ltd., had violated regulations by exceeding the permitted mining depth by up to 10%. On February 8-9, 2017, the Provincial People's Committee fined these two businesses 120 million VND each; revoked their mining licenses for two months; and ordered them to backfill and restore the environment in the areas where mining exceeded the permitted depth.

However, as of August 2017, only Thanh Xuan Co., Ltd. had complied with the fine payment; and had carried out some leveling work, but the volume of leveling was insignificant and completely failed to meet the requirements. Xuan Hung Co., Ltd., on the other hand, had not complied with the fine payment; nor had it carried out the leveling and environmental restoration work.

Despite continued media coverage, these businesses still failed to fully comply and continued operating their concrete mixing plants without permits from the competent authorities. On January 23, 2018, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, in coordination with the People's Committee of Hoang Mai town and the People's Committee of Quynh Xuan ward, inspected the results of land leveling and environmental restoration, and implemented solutions to bring the Len Chua quarry area back to a safe state. The inspection revealed that the violating businesses had failed to comply with regulations on land leveling, restoration, and environmental rehabilitation as directed by the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

Specifically, for Thanh Xuan Co., Ltd.: "The leveling and environmental restoration have not been completed, and the mining area exceeding the permitted depth has not been brought back to a safe state as stipulated in Decision No. 492 QD-UBND dated February 8, 2017, of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee."

"The current situation at Thanh Xuan Co., Ltd.'s mining area shows that many locations are deeper than the permitted mining depth." Regarding Xuan Hung Co., Ltd.: "The leveling and environmental restoration have not been completed, and the mining area exceeding the permitted depth has not been brought back to a safe state as per Administrative Sanction Decision No. 491/QD-UBND dated February 8, 2017, issued by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee. The current situation at Xuan Hung Co., Ltd.'s mining area shows that only a small area is deeper than the permitted mining depth."

Given the above situation, based on Point b, Clause 2, Article 55 and Point e, Clause 1, Article 58 of the Mineral Law, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment proposes that the People's Committee of Nghe An province revoke Mineral Exploitation License No. 5523/GP-UBND dated November 21, 2013 of Thanh Xuan Co., Ltd. and Mineral Exploitation License No. 62498/GP.UBND dated November 12, 2014 of Xuan Hung Co., Ltd. The main reason is that these two enterprises have exploited minerals beyond the permitted depth and have not completed the remediation within 90 days from October 19, 2017, after receiving the notice from the People's Committee of the province requesting remediation.

Legalizing illegal concrete mixing plants.

Not only did Xuan Hung Co., Ltd. exceed the permitted mining depth, but in June 2015, it also constructed a commercial concrete mixing plant in the northwest area of ​​the Len Chua quarry, in Block 9, Quynh Xuan Ward, Hoang Mai Town. The construction area covers approximately 2,500 square meters, including about 1,000 square meters of land within the quarry area that had been leased to Xuan Hung Co., Ltd. by the Provincial People's Committee (after all minerals had been extracted) and 1,500 square meters of land that is difficult to allocate and is managed by the Quynh Xuan Ward People's Committee.

At this location, Xuan Hung Co., Ltd. proceeded to construct a commercial concrete mixing plant with a capacity of 60 m3/hour, including: an administration building, power station, operating line, and other auxiliary facilities… However, through inspection by the inter-agency task force, it was found that Xuan Hung Co., Ltd. constructed the concrete mixing plant without the necessary legal documents and procedures for investment projects from competent authorities, without a construction permit, and without a land allocation decision.

After years of being exploited beyond the permitted depth, the Len Chua quarry has still not been reclaimed. Photo: Nguyen Hung

Subsequently, in August 2017, Xuan Chung Co., Ltd. constructed an additional commercial concrete mixing plant south of the Len Chua quarry, covering an area of ​​approximately 4,500m2, on land that is difficult to allocate and managed by the People's Committee of Quynh Xuan Ward.

At this location, Xuan Chung Co., Ltd. has built a concrete mixing plant with a capacity of 120 m3/hour, including: an administration building, a power station, an operating line, and other auxiliary facilities… Similar to the commercial concrete mixing plant of Xuan Hung Co., Ltd., inspections by relevant authorities have revealed that Xuan Chung Co., Ltd. built the commercial concrete mixing plant without the necessary legal documents and procedures for investment projects from competent authorities, without a construction permit, and without a land allocation decision.

The head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Hoang Mai town stated that, to date, the businesses have not completed the land reclamation and environmental restoration at the Len Chua quarry. The reason given by the businesses is that they do not have enough land to level and restore the environment. Regarding the two illegally constructed commercial concrete mixing plants, after complying with the administrative penalty decision, considering that the businesses have invested a large amount of money in construction, the People's Committee of Hoang Mai town requested the higher authorities to allow Xuan Chung and Xuan Hung businesses to submit investment applications for concrete mixing plant projects at the current locations.

Thus, the violations at the Len Chua quarry have been occurring for quite a long time. The disregard for directives from local authorities and relevant agencies demonstrates a defiance and contempt for the law by these businesses. According to Government Decree No. 33/ND-CP on handling violations in the field of mineral resources, serious violations, mining outside the permitted boundaries with large areas and volumes, will result in severe penalties for the offending organizations and individuals.

In addition to fines, the penalties include temporary revocation of the license; mandatory remediation, leveling, and environmental restoration of the illegally exploited area; confiscation of all illegally extracted minerals; and mandatory return of any profits obtained from the violation.
In comparison with the violations at the Len Chua quarry, it is clear that the local authorities in Hoang Mai town have not fulfilled their responsibilities in protecting unexploited mineral resources; and in preventing illegal mining and construction activities there.

Therefore, the Provincial People's Committee needs to investigate, clarify, and take strict action against the organizations and individuals involved in the lax management of construction and mineral resources in the Len Chua quarry area.

Nguyen Hung