Regarding the issue of Ban Coc hydropower plant causing flooding and water pollution in Que Phong

(Baonghean.vn)- Voters in Que Phong district reported that Ban Coc hydropower plant pollutes domestic water sources and causes flooding in neighboring villages. They requested the Provincial People's Committee to direct relevant agencies to find solutions.

The competent authority responded to this issue as follows:

Ban Coc Hydropower Plant was invested by Que Phong Hydropower Joint Stock Company, built in 2003 and put into operation in 2009 with 03 units with a designed capacity of 18MW located above Huu Van village, Chau Kim commune, Que Phong district. In late 2014 and early 2015, the plant repaired and replaced equipment. From 2016 to present, the plant has been operating stably, supplying electricity to the national grid.

The downstream area of ​​Ban Coc hydropower plant includes the communes: Chau Kim, Muong Noc, Que Son, Tien Phong and Kim Son town, in which the domestic water source is from Nam Giai river, including Chau Kim commune, Kim Son town and some households living along both banks of Nam Giai river in Que Son, Muong Noc, Tien Phong communes. For the people of Chau Kim, Muong Noc, Que Son and Tien Phong communes, the main domestic water source is taken from dug wells, water flowing from the stream system around the area.

For the people of Kim Son town, the current source of domestic water is provided by the clean water plant and the water is taken before the plant's turbine (currently, water meters have been installed for households).

Ban Coc Hydropower Plant is preparing to build a flood protection embankment and a water tank for households in Chau Kim commune. Photo: Nghe An Information Technology Center

Only Huu Van village, Chau Kim commune, located downstream of the Coc hydroelectric plant, cannot dig wells, so the people's domestic water source is taken from the irrigation ditch behind the Coc hydroelectric plant (the main ditch that irrigates the agricultural land area of ​​nearly 1,000 hectares in the downstream communes). Therefore, the reflection and petition about the plant causing water pollution and flooding came from voters of Huu Van village, Chau Kim commune.

Ban Coc Hydropower Plant has a small reservoir, a free-flowing spillway, and a stream-correcting dam on Nam Giai stream, so the reservoir does not have the function of regulating floods downstream, only directing the flow to take water into the pressure pipe leading to the plant's turbine; the main task is to generate electricity to the national grid. With the water flow through the generators when generating a maximum capacity of 18MW is 11.13 m3/s.

When the water level is high and especially during the rainy season, the remaining water from the generators will flow through the spillway and downstream. At the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, Que Phong Hydropower Joint Stock Company invested in new modern equipment to replace and repair equipment for the Ban Coc Hydropower Plant, so there was only one oil spill into the stream. Since the end of 2015, there has been no more oil spill into the stream.

Regarding the impact on people's livelihoods: Ban Huu Van is located below the Ban Coc hydroelectric plant, has low terrain, and the stream bed is narrow, so during the rainy season for many years now, when there is a lot of water, water overflows from the stream into the houses of households along the stream. This is due to natural conditions and not caused by the operation of the Ban Coc hydroelectric plant.

For power generation and water storage in the dry season from December to March of the following year, the plant only stops the water storage machine from 9 pm to 3 am the next day but still maintains the water flow on the stream at about 1m3/s.

Regarding domestic water supply, some households in the communes below the factory get water from the domestic water supply pipe taken from the tunnel in front of the factory with a diameter of Q200 (domestic water taken from this pipe is available continuously throughout the year).

To overcome the shortage of domestic water and flooding in Huu Van village: Que Phong Hydropower Joint Stock Company always attaches importance to contributing to the local government and is planning to build a water tank for the people of Huu Van village and build a water-blocking embankment in Huu Van village in the first quarter of 2018.

In addition, Que Phong Hydropower Joint Stock Company committed to supporting people in building domestic water tanks and flood protection embankments in the first quarter of 2018.

The construction of a water tank must be specifically surveyed by specialized agencies regarding the construction location and water source supplied to the tank (taken before the factory turbine and filtered before being put into the tank).

Gia Huy

( synthetic)