For many years now, every time the quarry next to her house explodes, the three of them, Nguyen Thi Thu Dung (42 years old, Loc Tien village, Chau Tien commune, Quy Hop district) have gone under the wooden bed placed in front of the porch to take shelter. “The quarry has a fixed time for the explosions, twice a day, at 11am and 5pm. That’s why the mother and her children set a timer on their phones, and when the time is near, they go under the bed to lie down for safety!…”, said Dung.
Dung's house is located next to Provincial Road 532. Right behind and beside her house are a series of white stone quarries. The closest of these is the quarry of Invecon Quy Hop Company Limited. Living so close to the quarry, Dung is all too familiar with the sight of rocks falling on her house. "A few days ago, it was time to detonate the mine but I forgot and didn't have time to take shelter. My mother and I were feeding the chickens behind the house when the mine exploded, causing rocks to fall on the house, about 2 meters away from where I was standing. It was so dangerous," said Dung, holding a white stone the size of 2 fists in her hand.
Not only are their lives threatened by the rocks, Ms. Dung and other residents here are also tormented by noise and dust. To cope, the residents here have to cover their houses with many layers. The double-glazed glass door of Ms. Dung’s house is always tightly closed…
Loc Tien village has only 14 households. In 2021, after many years of being tortured by quarries, 8 households were supported by companies with money to move to new places. However, the most absurd thing is that among the households, Ms. Dung's house is the closest to the quarry but did not receive financial support to move. "My house is the closest to the quarry, less than 100m away. The house is also the most well-built. But I don't understand why it was not supported. The house is the only property of the 3 of us. We also really want to move to another place for safety. But we also need money to move," said Ms. Dung.
In addition to Ms. Dung's household, there are 5 other households around. These households are further away from the quarry. However, recently, these 5 households have also submitted a petition to the People's Committee of Quy Hop district to report that the Invecon Quy Hop Company Limited's exploitation of white stone affects their lives. The households said that the company's stone exploitation process causes serious air pollution, dust from quarrying stone powder, vehicles transporting stone materials, dust causing long-term health effects; noise pollution from blasting, stone crushers, stone grinders, vibrations causing cracks in the houses and ancillary works of all 5 households. The households' wish is to request compensation from the company to relocate to a new place.
The People's Committee of Quy Hop district said that the locality then set up an inspection team. The results of the field inspection determined that the distance from the company's auxiliary area (processing area) to the nearest household's house was 261m, the farthest household's house was 410m. The distance from the mine area (the mining site adjacent to Asia Company) of Invecon Quy Hop Company Limited to the nearest household's house was 260m, the farthest household's house was 410m. However, this inspection team has not yet come to measure the distance in the case of Ms. Dung's house.
The inspection team also said that at the time of the inspection, the company was mining and processing stone, causing noise and dust. However, the residential areas of households are close to the mining and mineral processing locations of many companies such as: Invecon Quy Hop Company Limited, Nghe An Minerals Joint Stock Company, Omya Vietnam Minerals Joint Stock Company. The People's Committee of Quy Hop district said that the distance from the households' houses to the mining locations of the companies is relatively far, on the other hand, the houses of the households are adjacent to Provincial Road 532, where there are many means of transport, causing a lot of dust; therefore, to assert that the mineral mining and processing company causes dust pollution, noise, and vibrations that crack houses is unfounded.
“The company has been licensed by the competent authority for mining operations and construction of ancillary areas with all types of permits. Therefore, the District People's Committee does not have enough expertise to assess whether the company's operations exceed the licensed regulations or not, but requires inspection and conclusion from the competent authority,” said the leader of the Quy Hop District People's Committee, adding that regarding the wishes of the households, requesting the company to compensate for relocation to a new place of residence, the District People's Committee has worked with Invecon Quy Hop Company Limited to raise the issue of the households' wishes. However, the company did not agree with the content of the households' request.
Sharing the same fate as the people of Loc Tien village, the Khmu households in Kim Da village (Pha Danh commune, Ky Son district) have also been miserable for many years because they live next to the largest quarry in the district. Most recently, at around 11:00 a.m. on September 14, 2022, while the villagers were taking a lunch break, they heard a loud explosion from the quarry of Hong Truong Company Ltd. next door. Immediately, rocks flew down on the houses of the people in Kim Da village, causing 6 houses to have their fibro roofs and tiles punctured by rocks. "Fortunately, many households in the fields did not return home today. The number of damaged houses after the count is completed may be higher," said Village Chief Cut Van Thang.
The blast that caused the rocks to fly this time was at the Hong Truong Company Ltd. quarry, injuring a little girl. The girl was just over 1 year old. “The girl was sleeping alone on the bed under a blanket when the rocks flew down to the house, breaking the roof tiles. Then these tiles fell and hit her. Luckily, she was covered with a blanket so it was not as serious,” said Mr. Thang.
This is not the first time this quarry has exploded, damaging houses and injuring people. Previously, on April 3, 2022, workers at this quarry exploded, causing rocks to fly hundreds of meters, injuring 2 people and damaging 23 houses and many furniture and household items. After that, the quarry fixed the problem by buying fibro sheets to re-roof the households.
According to the reporter's investigation, Hong Truong Company Limited was licensed to exploit stone here since 2004. Next to it is a stone quarry of another enterprise. The stone quarry area of Hong Truong Company Limited is only about 200m from the nearest house. However, this mine explosion caused large and small rocks to fly nearly 400m away. Not only are they threatened by the mine explosions, but the people here also have to endure dust and noise pollution from the stone quarries. Not to mention, heavy rains cause small rocks from the stone quarry area to flow down to the fields of the people next door, making it impossible for them to produce. According to the leader of Pha Danh commune, for many years now, in most meetings with voters, people have expressed their frustration about these situations.
“After Nghe An Newspaper reported, the Provincial People's Committee established an inspection team to fine the quarry hundreds of millions of dong and suspend operations for 3 months. However, when the quarry resumed operations, people's concerns recurred. We need a long-term solution. The problem is that the quarry is too close to a residential area, while people have lived there for a long time,” said the leader of Pha Danh commune.
