Law

Sand and gravel mining causing riverbank erosion: Not just a problem in Dong Van…

Thanh Cuong, Nhat Lan • April 14, 2025 14:56

Due to the problem of landslides on Lam River alluvial land, from 2023 until now, people of Dong Van commune (Thanh Chuong) have twice set up tents, hung flags and banners, beat drums, posted information on social networks... to prevent sand mining activities.

People act "reluctantly"

The problem of landslides on Lam River alluvial land in Dong Van commune (Thanh Chuong) caused people in Tien Quanh and Dinh Son hamlets to gather, set up huts, hang flags, beat drums... to prevent sand mining activities from starting at the end of March 2025. Although immediately after that, the People's Committee of Dong Van commune and Thanh Chuong district took action; and on April 3, an interdisciplinary working group led by the Department of Agriculture and Environment conducted a field inspection, temporarily stopped sand mining activities, and made some quite strict decisions against the licensed mining unit, Thanh Chuong Sand Mining and Transport Joint Stock Company, however, the people of Dong Van commune are still not free from worries.

The proof is that on the morning of April 9, 2025, when we went down to the landslide site in Dong Van commune with Thanh Chuong district officials, there was a rapid drum beat. Then, just a few minutes later, about a few dozen people followed down to the beach. Seeing this scene, I blurted out: It seems like the people knew that there were strangers going down to the beach so they followed down to monitor? She replied: “After the landslide, people monitored activities on the beach. Whenever they saw someone going down to the beach, they would beat the drum. The rapid drum beat just now was to inform…”.

At this time, near the landslide site, there were still tents, flags, and banners; and there were also a series of signs with the warning "Dangerous deep water area". As for the people of Dong Van commune, when they knew that we were brought by district officials to investigate the landslide, they were very "enthusiastic" in providing information.

As discussed, although the sand mine of Thanh Chuong Sand and Transport Joint Stock Company has no boundary markers, the people confirmed that they discovered the sand mining ships in the wrong location, and mining beyond the permitted capacity. Therefore, they reluctantly organized to set up camps on the beach to prevent illegal sand mining activities.

Representing the people, Mr. Hoang Van Mui (Party member of Tien Quanh hamlet) said: “The people of Dong Van commune always comply with the policies and laws of the Party and the State. Every family has work to do and worry about, and it is not good to have a large gathering on the riverbank like this. But even though we have no choice, we have to do it. Because if we do not stop sand mining activities, the bank will continue to erode, affecting the fields, gardens, Ta Lam dike, affecting the houses and lives of hundreds of households…”.

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Every family has work to do and worry about, and it is not good to have a large group of people gathering on the riverbank like this. But even though we have no choice, we have to do it.

Mr. Hoang Van Mui - Tien Quanh hamlet, Cat Van commune (Thanh Chuong)

According to Mr. Hoang Van Mui, on Lam River in Dong Van Commune, there are still regular sand mining activities on the riverbed. But recently, in the Tien Quanh alluvial area, there are always 7-8 sand boats operating continuously; each boat carries about 8 trips of sand a day. The Tien Quanh hamlet alluvial area has large sand reserves, easy to exploit, so they concentrate on sand boats to exploit at full capacity. There are many types of sand suction boats, there are very large boats hired from the North to carry up to 200m³sand. According to Mr. Mui's estimate, in recent days, on average, about 7,000 - 8,000 m3 of sand has been exploited at Tien Quanh beach.³sand/day. “When granting a license to exploit minerals, based on scientific grounds, the competent authority will clearly state the reserves and regulate the mining capacity each year so that the organization licensed to exploit minerals must comply, avoiding causing consequences. If the organization licensed to exploit minerals strictly complies, there will be no consequences. However, here, people are exploiting massively without following the regulations, causing landslides. This company has been fined for exploiting beyond the permitted capacity…”, Mr. Mui said.

Along with Mr. Hoang Van Mui, some people also added that, many years ago, this alluvial area was both a production site and a bathing beach for the people of Dong Van commune. Therefore, the people did not agree with the licensing of sand mining in this area. A resident said: “The people of Dong Van commune were not consulted when the State considered granting sand mines. Therefore, since 2023, we have submitted our opinions to the commune and the district requesting consideration of reducing the area or revoking the granted sand mine. The commune has also informed us that it has submitted a written request to higher levels, however, it has not been considered yet…”.

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On April 3, 2025, based on the inspection results of the interdisciplinary working group, the Department of Agriculture and Environment issued Document No. 1003/SNNMT-KS, in which it was determined that there were 1,117m²There is a landslide outside the mine area; Thanh Chuong Sand Mining and Transport Joint Stock Company is required to strictly suspend mining until the case is completely handled... There is a document requesting to reduce an area of ​​about 2 hectares in Area II, Dong Van Commune, Thanh Chuong District of Mineral Exploitation License No. 2905/GP-UBND for handling.

Society is worried

Talking with Dong Van commune officials, we learned that this is not the first time that local people have gathered in large numbers, using drums, loudspeakers, and social networks to protest the sand and gravel mining activities of Thanh Chuong Sand and Gravel Mining and Transportation Joint Stock Company.

That was in August 2023, Chairman of Dong Van Commune People's Committee, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Chuong recalled. Upon receiving news that people were gathering in large numbers, the Commune People's Committee organized an inspection of the mine's boundary, worked with Thanh Chuong Sand Mining and Transport Joint Stock Company and requested this unit to strictly comply with legal regulations. At the same time, the Commune People's Committee organized a dialogue with the people. At the dialogue, people said that sand mining affects agricultural production, the ecological environment, and makes it difficult to prevent and combat natural disasters. In addition, it is said that sand mining lowers the riverbed, deforming the flow, leading to consequences of erosion of the riverbank and Ta Lam dike, seriously affecting people's property and lives. Therefore, people proposed to narrow the area of ​​the mine. "Dong Van Commune then sent Report No. 447 UBND-BC dated August 15, 2023 to the District People's Committee...", the Chairman of Dong Van Commune People's Committee said.

Regarding the incident in 2023, Mr. Chuong presented Report No. 447 UBND-BC of the commune and Document No. 1831/UBND-TNMT dated August 17, 2023 of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee sent to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Looking at these documents, it is clear why people oppose sand mining; confirming that the People's Committee of Dong Van Commune and Thanh Chuong District People's Committee had dialogued and consulted people to propose the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to organize an inspection and review of the Dong Van sand mine location granted to Thanh Chuong Sand Mining and Transportation Joint Stock Company under License No. 2905/GP-UBND dated July 10, 2018.

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The exploitation activities of Thanh Chuong Sand Mining and Transportation Joint Stock Company are very unprofessional, everyone does their own thing...

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Chuong - Chairman of Dong Van Commune People's Committee

Regarding the recent incident, according to Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune Nguyen Quoc Chuong, as early as March 25, 2025, the commune discovered that sand mining was causing landslides. However, through inspection, at this time it was determined that the mining activities were within the mine area, so the commune made a record to remind and request a temporary suspension of mining to determine the affected area. "The mining activities of Thanh Chuong Sand Mining and Transport Joint Stock Company are very unprofessional, everyone does their own thing. Therefore, although the commune requested a temporary suspension, they did not comply, leading to an incident on March 28 where people set up shacks to prevent mining. When the authorities went down to the site to stabilize the situation, propagate and mobilize people to ensure security and order in the area, the people still said that if the commune could not do it, they would let the people do it...", Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Van commune, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Chuong said sadly.

On April 3, 2025, after the interdisciplinary working group finished the inspection, the Department of Agriculture and Environment sent a document to relevant units, requesting Thanh Chuong Sand Mining and Transport Joint Stock Company to reduce about 2 hectares of the mine; requesting the People's Committee of Dong Van commune to give their opinion. When asked about this content by the Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Van commune, he said that the company had submitted a request to return 2.65 hectares of sand mine to Dong Van commune and the People's Committee of Thanh Chuong district. However, the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the commune consulted and agreed that it would take more time to officially send its opinion to the People's Committee of the district and the Department of Agriculture and Environment. "Dong Van commune recognizes that it must be very careful in giving its opinion. If this issue had been considered from 2023, it would have been more favorable, the situation would have been different now...", the Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Van commune acknowledged. Then he added, on April 8, the People's Committee of Thanh Chuong district issued a document assigning the Commune People's Committee to verify and clarify the cause of the landslide of an area of ​​1,117 m.²located outside the mining area, so the commune must set up a working group to focus on carrying out this task...

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On April 8, 2025, the People's Committee of Thanh Chuong district issued Document No. 820/UBND-NNMT on "Continuing to verify and clarify sand and gravel mining activities in Dong Van commune". Here, the People's Committee of Thanh Chuong district requested Thanh Chuong Sand and Gravel Mining and Transportation Joint Stock Company to provide the following records and documents: Tax declaration and payment records for the first quarter of 2025; Report on the mineral exploitation process at Dong Van sand mine from January 1, 2025 to March 31, 2025 and other relevant documents...; continue to temporarily suspend mining as requested by the People's Committee of the district in Official Dispatch No. 765/UBND-TNMT dated April 1, 2025 until the case is completed.

The story is not unique to Dong Van.

Having followed the sand and gravel mining activities on the riverbed for many years, we know that people in many localities of the province are insecure and worried about this activity. For example, in the Do Nha sandbank area, Chau Nhan commune, Hung Nguyen district in 2021, because of the sand bandits on the Lam River causing landslides on the banks, people had to write a petition for help to the provincial authorities. Or in the Lam River section through Vinh Son commune, Anh Son district, the situation of sand mining leading to landslides on alluvial banks and production areas made people very upset. Therefore, the People's Committee of Vinh Son commune had to allocate budget and contract with a group of 3 people to regularly monitor sand mining activities...

In Thanh Chuong district, not only Dong Van commune has sand mining that causes landslides. In Thanh Tien and Dai Dong communes, there have also been many cases of illegal sand and gravel mining on Lam river, causing consequences, leading to people's indignation, with many years of complaints and denunciations.

Regarding the province's riverbed sand and gravel mineral resources, it is clear that they need to be exploited to serve social needs, create jobs with income for a part of the population, and contribute to the budget. However, the planning and licensing of exploitation must be in accordance with the law; for organizations licensed to exploit, they must strictly comply with regulations, including compliance with planning, and exploitation at the licensed capacity.

Arriving at the Dong Van sand mine, Nghe An Newspaper reporters carefully observed and noticed that there were no boundary markers. This detail alone showed that Thanh Chuong Sand Mining and Transport Joint Stock Company did not comply with the law, which was one of the reasons for mining activities not within the licensed scope, causing landslides and causing public outrage.

Discussing what he heard and saw with Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment Le Quang Huy, according to him, the sand and gravel mining activities on riverbeds in the province have had and are having consequences in some localities, and need to be inspected and rectified. Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment Le Quang Huy said: Since the beginning of 2025, the Department has had a plan to inspect sand and gravel mining activities on riverbeds. After the incident at the sand mine in Dong Van commune, the Department has issued a document requesting relevant units to coordinate and establish a number of interdisciplinary teams to conduct large-scale inspections...

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On December 16, 2022, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 215/QD-XPHC to administratively sanction Thanh Chuong Sand and Gravel Exploitation and Transportation Joint Stock Company for exploiting river sand and gravel in excess of its permitted capacity (in 2020, it exceeded capacity by 211.2%; in 2021, it exceeded capacity by 208.6%). The fine is 900 million VND; at the same time, the exploitation activities are suspended for 5.5 months.