Why can't the two illegal mines in Dien Chau be handled?

Check, find out the violations

More than 2 months ago, on July 30, 2024, an interdisciplinary delegation led by Mr. Le Manh Hien - Vice Chairman of Dien Chau District People's Committee inspected and worked on mineral exploitation activities, land management, construction and ensuring order and traffic safety related to 2 mines of Thien Hoang Equipment Joint Stock Company and Hoang Phuc Company Limited in Dien Loi commune (Dien Chau).

The subsequent inspection results showed that, regarding legal documents, the units had not provided mine design documents as well as mine access route design documents appraised and approved by the investment decision maker according to the provisions of the Construction Law; at the same time, there were no acceptance documents, construction logs, quality management documents of items, acceptance documents of completed project items, completion of the project to put the project into use according to the provisions of Decree No. 06/2021 and Decree No. 35/2023 of the Government detailing a number of contents on quality management and construction; there were no management and control documents of daily exploitation, management documents of vehicles entering and leaving the mine; there were no related site clearance plan documents...

It is worth mentioning that, from the report of the local authorities and when inspecting the scene, the interdisciplinary team discovered that during the exploitation process, Thien Hoang Equipment Joint Stock Company had lost the boundary markers of the permitted exploitation on the land mine. More specifically, at the 2 land mines, both units were exploiting beyond the licensed mine boundary markers. This is a violation of the law on mineral exploitation. The People's Committee of Dien Loi commune reported that it had inspected and requested to stop mining beyond the mine boundary markers, but the units still deliberately violated.

The inspection team also determined that the transportation of mined soil did not comply with regulations on monitoring and managing reserves; there was no weighing station to check the load, vehicles were not cleaned before leaving the mine, and some vehicles were not covered during transportation, causing environmental pollution and affecting the lives of people living nearby.

The construction of mine infrastructure and roads connecting N2 road to the mine has not followed the current procedures and regulations. Specifically, the mining infrastructure has not been fully built, such as the operator's house, weighing station, car wash area, and the mining measures have not met the regulations; the construction of the roads to the mines has not been completed and the results of the acceptance test have not been approved by the specialized construction agency and put into use according to regulations. In reality, the roads are damaged, the road surface is cracked, the roadbed and curbs have sunk in many locations, the traffic safety system is not guaranteed, there is a lot of mud on the road surface, causing difficulty in traveling, environmental pollution, and affecting the lives of people on both sides of the route.

It is worth mentioning that the People's Committee of Dien Loi Commune has repeatedly worked with Thien Hoang Equipment Joint Stock Company and Hoang Phuc Company Limited on the above-mentioned problems, especially environmental pollution and road damage, but the units still do not comply. Therefore, on June 25 and June 26, 2024, local people and the People's Committee of the Commune organized inspection posts, requiring the exploitation units and means of transport to comply with regulations, organize road repairs, watering, and cover the vehicle bodies to avoid affecting people's lives.

Complaints about measurement results

Immediately after the interdisciplinary delegation inspected and identified violations, especially related to mining beyond the boundary, on August 9, 2024, the People's Committee of Dien Chau district issued Document No. 2173/UBND-TNMT on urging the preparation of records to handle violations of the law on mineral exploitation activities for 2 land mines in Dien Loi commune.

Dien Chau District People's Committee also requested Thien Hoang Equipment Joint Stock Company and Hoang Phuc Company Limited to seriously implement the conclusions of the interdisciplinary team. At the same time, coordinate with Dien Loi Commune People's Committee and functional departments and units in the process of measuring and determining the scope and volume of violations at locations where exploitation has been outside the licensed scope.

Immediately after receiving instructions from the People's Committee of Dien Chau district, the People's Committee of Dien Loi commune also coordinated with the North Central Geological Federation to measure and determine the volume of violations committed by the above two units.

On September 2, 2024, the North Central Geological Federation issued a Report on the results of determining the area and volume of minerals exploited beyond the licensed area boundary at the land fill mine in Hamlet 10, Dien Loi Commune of Thien Hoang Equipment Joint Stock Company and Hoang Phuc Company Limited. On that basis, on September 6, 2024, the People's Committee of Dien Loi Commune issued Report No. 409/BC-UBND to the People's Committee of Dien Chau District and the measurement results file. At the same time, study the regulations to make a record and handle violations against the above 2 units.

However, while in the process of researching and drawing up a record of administrative violations, one of the two violating units, Hoang Phuc Company Limited, filed a complaint about the measurement results.

According to the measurement results of the North Central Geological Federation, the area measured at the mine of Hoang Phuc Company Limited from boundary markers No. 1 to No. 2, No. 1 to No. 5 and No. 4 to No. 5, the mining area beyond the licensed scope is 2.19 hectares.

Disagreeing with this result, on September 13, 2024, Hoang Phuc Company Limited filed a complaint. According to this unit, in the field, the location of markers 4 to 5 has been returned and some points near the stream bank have been eroded due to the rain and wind. When observed, it is new land, but the area that has been returned and eroded is also within the range of 2.19 hectares.

In addition, from milestone 1 to milestone 2 and from milestone 4 to milestone 5, there is a part of the road area that has been approved by specialized departments and Dien Chau District People's Committee to renovate and upgrade the road to the material mine to serve leveling and rescue, forest fire prevention and fighting and serve key national projects such as the 500KV North-South power line and the North-South expressway.

In the complaint, Hoang Phuc Company Limited explained that during the construction of the 500KV line, heavy cranes could not reach some points, so the company had to widen the road and use local soil to prevent landslides and subsidence, instead of exploiting and taking it outside.

According to Hoang Phuc Company Limited, the road area is 6,980m², located in a total of 2.19ha; equivalent to 20,455m³, in a total volume of 105,866m³, which the measurement results of the North Central Geological Federation have reported. In addition, there are some overlapping locations due to the process of rain and wind causing landslides and weathering, taking up a large area, so they need to be re-measured and re-appraised for verification.

After receiving the complaint from Hoang Phuc Company Limited, Dien Chau District People's Committee also decided to stop using the measurement results of the North Central Geological Federation to redo the measurement process and determine the volume of violations.

Mr. Phan Xuan Vinh - Vice Chairman of Dien Chau District People's Committee, said: According to the presentation of Hoang Phuc Company Limited, there are some areas in the violation area that are public roads, camps and operating houses... Therefore, it is necessary to re-determine the area and volume of violations.

Mr. Vinh also affirmed that hiring a surveying unit is the district’s responsibility, based on the supervision of relevant departments and offices. And choosing a unit to conduct the survey is not simple, because there are not many units in the province with the expertise to perform this task.

Obviously, the violations of the two mines in Dien Loi commune are indisputable. However, up to this point, the determination of the area and volume of violations has not yet reached any conclusion, which is something that needs to be seriously reconsidered...