Determining the sludge discharged by Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company into the regulating lake covered 300m2 and was 2m thick
(Baonghean.vn) - At the time of inspection, authorities discovered that water and sludge were flowing strongly from the third water tank to Cua Nam regulating lake, with sludge covering the lake surface with an area of about 300 square meters.
As reported by Nghe An Newspaper, on the morning of October 21, the Environmental Police Department of Nghe An Province Police presided over and coordinated with representatives of Vinh City Police, Vinh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment; Environmental Protection Sub-Department (Department of Natural Resources and Environment); representatives of the authorities of Cua Nam Ward, Dong Vinh Ward (Vinh City); Vinh Urban Infrastructure Management and Development Joint Stock Company to inspect people's reflections on the discharge of wastewater and sludge from the reservoir of Hung Vinh Water Plant (under Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company) into Cua Nam regulating lake.
At about 10:30 a.m. the same day, in the presence of representatives of Hung Vinh Water Plant, the authorities coordinated with local authorities to record the incident.
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| The manhole is full of water and is flowing strongly from the third water tank to the regulating lake. The wastewater is cloudy and mixed with sludge. Photo: NL |
The minutes were drawn up with the content that at 8:00 a.m. on October 21, 2019, the Environmental Police Department received information from the people of Block 10, Cua Nam Ward and Vinh Xuan Block, Dong Vinh Ward (Vinh City) about: Hung Vinh Water Plant under Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company discharged production wastewater and sludge into the environment, which is the ecological regulation lake in Vinh Xuan Block, Dong Vinh Ward, causing environmental pollution.
The Environmental Police Department sent a working group to coordinate with local authorities to conduct verification. The verification results showed that the people's reflection was true.
Specifically, Hung Vinh Water Plant (address No. 115, Nguyen Sinh Sac Street, Cua Nam Ward, Vinh City) operates in the production and supply of clean water to Vinh City. During the production process, sludge and wastewater are piped to a storage tank at Vinh Xuan Block, Dong Vinh Ward. The storage tank is built into 3 compartments, with a total area of about 1,000m2.
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| 3 tanks of Hung Vinh Water Plant, in which the 3rd tank has a pipe leading to Cua Nam regulating lake. Photo: PB |
The first compartment is located in the South, the second compartment is located in the West, and the third compartment is located in the East. The wastewater containing sludge from the factory is led through the ditch to the second and third compartments; after settling, the clear water will be led back to the factory to serve production, and the sludge will be pumped to the first compartment for treatment.
In reality, the first compartment used to contain sludge is now covered with mud, about 1 meter from the top edge of the tank (the mud is about 0.5 meter higher than the roadbed), the tank surface is mainly mud, part is dry, part is still soft. The northern bank of the tank has 3 small pits built to collect clear water. The second and third tanks are right next to the northern outer wall of the first tank, with a water pipe leading to the regulating lake.
At the third tank, two bags of snake carcasses containing sand were found on the shore with their mouths tied. A rope of snake carcasses (a type of rope) was hanging down to the third tank. One end of the rope was left on the shore and the other end was tied to a bag of sand used to block the sewer mouth.
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| Mr. Phan Quang Phan (residing in Vinh Xuan block, Dong Vinh ward, Vinh city) was upset about the act of discharging sludge into Cua Nam regulating lake of Hung Vinh water plant. Photo: PB |
At this location, water is flowing strongly into the pipe and directly into the ecological lake in Vinh Xuan block, Dong Vinh ward. The manhole at the lake side is built of bricks, square, each side is 40cm. At the time of work, the manhole is full of water and is flowing strongly from the third water tank to the lake, the wastewater is cloudy with sludge.
The area of water flowing out with sludge covers the surface of the regulating lake with an area of about 300m2, using a pole to measure the depth, the depth is about 2m. Because there is still a lot of water in the regulating lake, the specific amount of sludge discharged into the regulating lake has not been determined.
The working group took 1 wastewater sample at the outlet of the regulating lake where wastewater flows directly from the third tank into the environment; took 2 sludge samples at the regulating lake and the third tank.
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| Authorities take samples of wastewater and sludge for analysis and testing. Photo: NL |
The working group also requested Hung Vinh Water Plant to immediately stop discharging untreated wastewater and sludge into the environment; at the same time, the legal representative of Hung Vinh Water Plant must be present at the Environmental Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police to work.
At the meeting, Mr. Ha Van Hien - Deputy Director of Hung Vinh Water Plant agreed to sign the minutes of the incident. However, he stated: Wastewater and sludge flowing into the regulating lake is wastewater flowing from the plant. The cause is due to an open inlet of the water collection pipe…?.
The leader of the Environmental Police Department of Nghe An Province Police affirmed that they will coordinate with the relevant agencies to investigate and clarify whether the discharge of wastewater and sludge by Hung Vinh Water Plant is in accordance with regulations or not; how much sludge was discharged into Cua Nam regulating lake. At the same time, the results of the analysis of wastewater and sludge samples taken during the inspection will be used as a basis to resolve the matter.
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| Mr. Ha Van Hien - Deputy Director of Hung Vinh Water Plant (striped shirt) agreed to sign the incident record. Photo: PB |
Mr. Le Viet Tien (also residing in Vinh Xuan block, Dong Vinh ward) expressed his indignation: “The regulating lake has always been clean, both beautiful in landscape and regulating the climate for the residential areas around the lake. Now it is full of sludge, making people very upset. We request the authorities to clarify and force Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company and Hung Vinh Water Plant to return the regulating lake environment to its previous state…”.
