Unusual fish deaths on Nam Huong stream (Quy Hop): More violations discovered by Ha An Tin Company Limited

On July 8, at the mine area ofHa An Tin Company Limited, the working group to inspect and handle the case of unusual fish deaths on Nam Huong stream officially implemented the direction of the Provincial People's Committee in Official Dispatch No. 5603/UBND-NN dated July 4, 2024. Members of the group include representatives of the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Minerals of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Center for Natural Resources and Environment Monitoring (the unit performing the task of analyzing environmental samples); Quy Hop District People's Committee, and the People's Committees of Chau Thanh and Chau Hong communes.

Before the working session, the delegation conducted a field inspection at Nam Huong stream, Cai village (Chau Thanh commune), where there were reports of turbid water and dead fish reaching the upstream area.

Through on-site inspection, Ha An Tin Company Limited is currently inactive. However, it is determined that this company has adjusted the overall layout of the tin mining project (building additional tailings dump, post-select wastewater treatment area, selection workshop...) but has not reported to the competent authority for consideration and approval of the adjustment.

Thiec Ha An Company Limited did not reuse wastewater from the mine as stated in the approved environmental impact assessment report and the Certificate of completion of environmental protection works before official operation. Instead, it pumped and filtered the wastewater before discharging it into the casto cave and let it flow naturally to the head of the North stream, joining the Nam Huong stream at Trung Thanh spillway, Chau Thanh commune.

The act of pumping mine wastewater into the casto cave, then flowing into the source of Bac Stream, causing turbid, dark yellow water, was inspected and recorded by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quy Hop district and the People's Committee of Chau Thanh commune in the Minutes of the meeting dated July 2, 2024, and recognized by Thiec Ha An Company Limited as true.

In addition, the tailings area of ​​Ha An Tin Company Limited has not been lined; the wastewater and sludge collection and treatment works are also at risk of overflowing into the environment, especially in the event of prolonged heavy rain.

At the meeting, Director of Ha An Tin Company Limited, Mr. Le Tat Thanh, presented that the Company has stopped mining activities at Suoi Bac tin mine from January 30, 2024 to complete procedures according to the provisions of law.

Regarding the water generated from the mines, in reality it is very large, exceeding the needs of the Company in the ore selection process, not in accordance with the content of the approved environmental impact assessment report; in addition, the water is contaminated with iron, low pH, so the Company must treat this water before discharging. Therefore, it is recommended that the competent authorities create conditions for the Company to complete related procedures before resuming production.

Attending the meeting, Chairman of Chau Thanh Commune People's Committee Luong Van Hai informed that, after checking on the days when the fish died, only the slot at the discharge point of Thiec Ha An Company Limited had the phenomenon of yellow cloudy water. Thereby, it is suspected that Thiec Ha An Company Limited discharged waste into the casto cave to flow out naturally, affecting the quality of the water environment, which is the cause of the fish death.

Mr. Luong Van Hai also informed that the settling pits of Thiec Ha An Company Limited are not safe; when it rains, the crevices under the settling ponds often become cloudy. Currently, the settling ponds have a lot of mud, so the Company must take measures to dry the mud and maintain the embankments to ensure that water and mud do not overflow into the crevices. At the same time, he requested to clarify the cause of the phenomenon of Nam Huong stream water turning yellow and cloudy; compare the content of the environmental impact assessment report to check the discharge pipes in the mine area...

Chairman of Chau Hong Commune People's Committee Truong Van Hoa also requested the Company to take measures to treat the water flowing from the mine before discharging it into the environment, because Bac stream is the source of water, households below use this water source to raise fish, some households also use it for domestic use. In addition, Mr. Hoa pointed out that the settling tanks in the southern area of ​​the mine are almost full, the dike blocking the tank has a phenomenon of landslides; therefore, measures must be taken to build dikes to ensure safety...

On behalf of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district, Mr. Quan Vi Giang - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee, Mr. Le Sy Hao - Deputy Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment reiterated the inspection and verification work on July 1 and 2, 2024 of the District People's Committee and Chau Thanh Commune People's Committee. Thereby, request the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to inspect and clarify the cause of the cloudy water and dead fish to serve as a basis for information for the people to know.

As Head of Pollution Control Department - Department of Environmental Protection, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh pointed out some shortcomings of Thiec Ha An Company Limited. Specifically, water from mine No. 1, mining area No. 2 is collected and settled in 2 settling tanks, but at settling tank No. 2 there is still a pipe that drains directly into the environment, requesting the Company to cover this drain.

The southern sedimentation tanks are almost full of mud, there are landslides, it is necessary to dry the mud, maintain the embankments to ensure that water and mud do not overflow into the crevices in the area; at the same time, it is necessary to dig up and remove the pipes not used for production and wastewater treatment activities of the Project.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh also informed that according to the Environmental Protection Works Certificate of Ha An Tin Company Limited, the mine water after settling will be used for the ore crushing machine. Therefore, the Company must strictly implement this. If there are any changes, they must be reported to the Provincial People's Committee and can only be implemented when approved by the Provincial People's Committee.

To have a basis for evaluating and handling related contents according to regulations, the Working Group took 2 water samples, including one wastewater sample at the final settling tank of the settling treatment system, and one surface water sample at the final discharge point of wastewater from the mining pit into the environment.

Base Based on the results of the on-site inspection and opinions of representatives of all parties, the Working Group unanimously concluded:

• Ha An Tin Company Limited has adjusted the overall layout of the tin mining project (building additional tailings dump, post-select wastewater treatment area, selection workshop...) but has not yet implemented it, reporting to the competent authority for consideration and approval of the adjustment as per the content of Official Dispatch No. 4243/STNMT-BVMT dated November 21, 2022 of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

• Wastewater from the Company's mine is preliminarily filtered before being discharged into the Casto cave (the old moong of the Non-ferrous Metal Company located on the Northwest slope) and flows out at the head of the Bac stream, Chau Thanh commune (this stream branch joins the Nam Huong stream at Trung Thanh spillway, Chau Thanh commune, Quy Hop district), not reused as in the Certificate of completion of environmental protection works before official operation. The Company's pumping of mine wastewater into the Casto cave, from the cave flows out to the head of the Bac stream, polluting the water source (causing cloudy water, dark yellow color) has been inspected and recorded by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quy Hop district, Chau Thanh commune People's Committee in the Minutes of the meeting dated July 2, 2024, and recognized by Ha An Tin Company Limited as true.

• For tailings, the Company is discharging waste into the environment but the discharge area has not been lined.

• Wastewater and sludge collection and treatment facilities are at risk of overflowing and leaking into the environment, especially in the event of prolonged heavy rain.

The working group requested Thiec Ha An Company Limited to complete the project's related documents and procedures according to regulations; immediately implement solutions to thoroughly collect waste sources, ensure safety, and prevent incidents; implement measures to collect and treat solid waste and liquid waste in accordance with the environmental impact assessment report and the certificate of completion of environmental protection works;

In addition, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district and the People's Committees of Chau Thanh and Chau Hong communes are requested to strengthen supervision of the discharge of Ha An Tin Company Limited and promptly handle violations according to their authority if violations are detected.