Promptly and thoroughly handle pesticide warehouse pollution in Tho Son

(Baonghean) - In the 70s of the last century, in order to meet the agricultural production needs of local people, Long Tho Cooperative, located in village 5, Tho Son commune (Anh Son) imported plant protection drugs (PPE) to supply to farmers.

Mr. Trinh Vinh Quang - former Deputy Director of Long Tho Cooperative from 1978 until the Cooperative dissolved in 1994, recalled: “During its existence, the Cooperative changed its name many times due to mergers, at first it was Long Tho, Long Xuan and finally Tho Son. Despite many name changes, the Cooperative's main function was still to provide agricultural supplies, including pesticides such as DT 666... ​​in powder form in packages and jars. All transported pesticides were stored in the Cooperative's warehouse.”

The pesticide warehouse floor still has jars of pesticides and is very humid.

Over time, in very poor storage conditions combined with the effects of the weather, the pesticide warehouse has increasingly deteriorated and the amount of residual pesticides has had a more obvious impact on the lives of the people around, especially after the time the cooperative was dissolved, the pesticide warehouse was no longer looked after, and the amount of residual pesticides was left abandoned. According to our observations, the entire row of level 4 houses formerly owned by Long Tho Cooperative has seriously deteriorated, the room previously used by the cooperative as a pesticide warehouse has a leaky roof, a damp floor, in which there is still a ceramic jar that used to store pesticides, the air is filled with the smell of pesticides even though the weather is mild. Right next to the old cooperative headquarters is the Cultural House of Village 5, Tho Son Commune. Every month, the Party cell meetings and activities of the village's 85 households still have to be held here despite recommendations to fence off this area.

For the past 26 years, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dung's family has lived only about 50m from the pesticide warehouse, so they clearly feel the environmental impact it brings. He said that when the weather is hot, the smell in the air is very unpleasant. During the rainy season, the location of the pesticide warehouse is low, so water floods the surrounding area, making the people here very worried. A few years ago, Mr. Dung had to invest money in drilling a well to get water for daily use instead of using water from a dug well. "For a while, my wife and I took care of the village hall near the pesticide warehouse. But after a few years, both of us suffered from polyarthritis, making it difficult to move around, so we quit. We are not scientists, so we cannot conclude whether the pesticide warehouse has any impact on health, but we are still very worried. We hope that relevant authorities will promptly handle this warehouse," Mr. Dung suggested.

Working with the Tho Son commune authorities, we learned that in 2010-2011, the specialized agency came to pick up 2 tons of soil from the warehouse and the jar containing residual pesticides, then treated them by spraying chemicals and spreading lime many times; at the same time, drilled the warehouse floor and surrounding area to take water samples for testing. However, these steps have not really solved the pollution problem in village 5 and people are still very worried. Therefore, to completely handle the pollution, on July 31, 2013, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued a Decision "on approving the Project on Handling Environmental Pollution Due to Residual Pesticides in Village 5, Tho Son Commune, Anh Son District, Nghe An Province". The project has a budget of more than 8.5 billion VND from the central budget with targeted support from the environmental protection career budget; the provincial budget balance and other legal sources. Accordingly, the project will be implemented in 2014 with the goal of treating environmental pollution in the chemical warehouse area in village 5, Tho Son commune and handing over the treated land to the locality.

Mr. Pham Ngoc Canh - Vice Chairman of Tho Son Commune People's Committee said: "Through many meetings with voters of People's Councils at all levels and the National Assembly, voters have also requested to completely handle the pollution at the pesticide warehouse to ensure the environment. Currently, the treatment project has been approved by the province, hopefully the relevant departments will implement it according to the plan, completely handle it so that people can feel secure". Completing the treatment, improvement and restoration of the environment here will not only prevent, prevent and minimize the harmful effects of residual pesticides on local people and the surrounding environment but also ensure sustainable development.

Thanh Duy