Vinh City needs to focus on addressing environmental pollution hotspots.

Before entering into a meeting with the Vinh City People's Committee,monitoring teamInspections were conducted at two locations that are still on the list of seriously polluting sites in the city: the Dong Vinh landfill and the Nghe An Oncology Hospital.

The Dong Vinh landfill still has approximately 84,000 tons of waste that has not been processed. Photo: Tien Dong

At the Dong Vinh landfill, originally an informal dumpsite formed in the 1970s, it served as a waste disposal site for Vinh City until the end of 2011 when it ceased accepting waste. Simultaneously with the continued dumping of waste at the Dong Vinh landfill, the Provincial People's Committee approved investment in the Seraphin Waste Treatment Plant Project, aiming to process daily household waste and waste already buried at the Dong Vinh landfill. However, this project only operated for a short time, ceasing operations in 2014. To date, approximately 84,000 tons of waste remain accumulated.

The inspection team checks the Dong Vinh landfill. Photo: Tien Dong

After the Dong Vinh landfill ceased operations, the Vinh City People's Committee implemented a project to thoroughly address environmental pollution at the Dong Vinh landfill. Approximately 100,000 tons of waste were transported to the Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex. However, during the project planning phase, a portion of the waste from the Dong Vinh landfill (located near the Seraphin waste treatment plant) was not included, leading to accumulated waste and unresolved environmental pollution.

Currently, the People's Committee of Vinh City has also developed a project to transport the remaining waste out of the city with a total cost of approximately 15 billion VND.

The wastewater treatment system at Nghe An Oncology Hospital handles wastewater from three facilities. Photo: Tien Dong

At Nghe An Oncology Hospital, the facility has currently invested in a wastewater treatment system with a capacity of 400m³.³The treatment plant operates day and night and officially commenced operations in December 2019. It serves as a shared treatment facility for three hospitals (Nghe An Oncology Hospital, Trauma and Orthopedics Hospital, and the Provincial Hematology and Blood Transfusion Center). However, its operation frequently encounters problems, and the quality of treated wastewater is unstable, often exceeding permitted standards. The investor, the Nghe An Department of Health, has repeatedly directed relevant parties to promptly find solutions to thoroughly address the issue; however, the remediation and treatment are still incomplete. The hospital remains on the list of environmentally polluting entities.

The inspection team checks the wastewater treatment plant at Nghe An Oncology Hospital. Photo: Tien Dong

In addition, at the second facility of Nghe An Oncology Hospital in Nghi Lien commune, the wastewater treatment system has been completed and is now undergoing trial operation. Monitoring results of the treated wastewater show good results, meeting current standards.

However, because the investment progress according to the construction contract has not yet reached the acceptance stage, the hospital is not yet eligible for an environmental permit. This means that the second facility has not yet been licensed to operate and cannot sign a health insurance contract with the insurance agency. Meanwhile, the public's need for health insurance-covered medical examination and treatment is extremely urgent.

Wastewater from the Nghe An Oncology Hospital's wastewater treatment system still does not meet standards. Photo: Tien Dong.

Working with the People's Committee of Vinh City, the monitoring team also gathered information related to the compliance with environmental protection laws in the area. According to statistics, the current volume of solid household waste generated in the city is approximately 300 tons per day. All waste is collected, transported, and processed by landfilling at the Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex. In addition, about 10 tons of ordinary industrial solid waste are generated per day; and about 5 tons of hazardous waste, mainly sludge, waste oil and grease, and hazardous medical waste.

The inspection team worked with the People's Committee of Vinh City. Photo: Tien Dong

Regarding surface water resources, the city has two rivers, the Vinh River and the Rao Dung River, which receive a large amount of surface water and wastewater from the city and surrounding areas through a series of drainage works. However, environmental monitoring data from 2022 shows that the water quality of the Rao Dung River and the Vinh River has shown signs of pollution.

Furthermore, the city currently has 6 regulating lakes included in the provincial People's Committee's surface water environmental monitoring program, with monitoring frequency of 6 times/year. However, because most wastewater and waste from residential areas flow into these 6 regulating lakes, they have been polluted in recent years. Monitoring results from 2022 show that: NH4+ levels remain high (Central Park Lake, Bay Mau Lake), and E. coli pollution at the monitoring points of Vinh Tan Lake and Goong Lake has exceeded the permissible standards.

Comrade Nguyen Sy Dieu - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Vinh City, answers some questions raised by the inspection team. Photo: Tien Dong

Air pollution in the city is also a cause for concern. The causes have been identified as the activities of manufacturing facilities in industrial zones and small industrial clusters scattered within residential areas. In addition, there are emissions from vehicles.

During the meeting, the monitoring team also requested the Vinh City People's Committee to clarify several issues related to environmental pollution to supplement the report. In particular, they addressed the issue of domestic wastewater overflowing into the North Canal, leading to environmental pollution. The city needs to clarify the causes and responsibilities in the construction and design of the wastewater collection system in the North Canal, to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.

Recently, the North Canal has been heavily polluted. (Photo: Nhat Lan)

Furthermore, the city also needs to strengthen monitoring of environmental pollution control at several production facilities that have previously been penalized. Long-term solutions are needed for the collection, transportation, and treatment of solid waste. Currently, although the Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex is only authorized to receive waste from Vinh City, Cua Lo Town, Dien Chau Town, and Nghi Loc District, in reality, waste from many other localities is also brought there, leading to the risk of the facility becoming overloaded by 2030...

Responding to some comments from the inspection team, Mr. Nguyen Sy Dieu - Vice Chairman of the Vinh City People's Committee - stated that the direct causes affecting the city's environmental quality are urbanization, economic development, and rapid population growth, which create pressure on the amount of solid waste and wastewater. Furthermore, the city's water collection system is a combined system, not separating rainwater and wastewater; therefore, there is still a situation where wastewater flows into regulating lakes, causing environmental pollution and affecting the lives of surrounding residents.

Comrade Nguyen Nam Dinh - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, and Head of the Monitoring Team - working with the People's Committee of Vinh City. Photo: Tien Dong

In the coming period, the city will continue to invest in, renovate, and upgrade technical infrastructure for environmental protection, definitively resolving pollution issues, especially in regulating lakes, the North Canal, and the moat of the ancient citadel. It will mobilize resources and accelerate the implementation of priority infrastructure projects and urban development projects that adapt to climate change...

Concluding the working session, Comrade Nguyen Nam Dinh - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, and Head of the Monitoring Team - requested the Vinh City People's Committee to improve the dissemination of information on environmental protection to the people. He also urged adherence to the city's planning to build environmental treatment infrastructure and focus on addressing environmental pollution hotspots.

Comrade Nguyen Nam Dinh also stated that, following the meeting, the supervisory delegation will hold meetings with relevant departments and agencies before working with the Provincial People's Committee. At the same time, they will finalize the report to submit to the Provincial People's Council for comments before issuing a Resolution at the upcoming session of the Provincial People's Council.