Formosa’s waste found at more landfill, hazard testing continues
While all the wastes of the Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co. Ltd illegally buried at a farm in Ky Anh town, Ha Tinh province, were removed, the firm has been found to dump waste at another landfill.
Waste and soil at the farm in Ky Trinh ward are moved onto a truck to be delivered to the Ha Tinh Industrial Waste Processing Co. Ltd (Photo: VNA)Ha Tinh (VNA) – While all the wastes of the Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co. Ltd illegally buried at a farm in Ky Anh town, the central province of Ha Tinh, have been removed, the firm has been found to dump waste at another landfill in the same town.
The removal of 300 tonnes of waste and soil buried at the farm in Ky Trinh ward of Ky Anh town was completed on July 16.
The removed waste is kept at the Ha Tinh Industrial Waste Processing Co. Ltd. Meanwhile, the farm, owned by Le Quang Hoa – Director of Ky Anh’s urban environment company, will be temporarily closed pending soil testing results, said Nguyen Thuong Hien, Director of the Department of Waste Management and Environment Promotion under the Vietnam Environment Administration.
If the waste is not hazardous and the soil there is not polluted, the farm will be returned to local authorities for environmental recovery, he noted.
Also on July 16, Le Quang Hoa reported to local police that another 10 tonnes of waste of Formosa had been buried at a park of his company in Song Tri ward of Ky Anh town.
Samples of the waste have been taken for testing, and the 10 tonnes of waste were moved to a waste processing factory in Ky Tan commune, Ky Anh town, which is run by the Phu Ha Environment Co. Ltd.
Hoa said the waste was delivered from Formosa’s factory to the park for tree planting at the same time with the waste dumping at his farm. However, he did not know whether or not the waste was hazardous.
Meanwhile, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the northern province of Phu Tho is also working to identify the types of Formosa’s waste transported to Phu Tho for treatment by the Phu Ha Environment Co. Ltd.
Nguyen Van Hau, Director of the department, said if the Phu Ha company is found to have collected and transported hazardous waste in violation of legal regulations, it will be strictly punished.
Hoang Chi Thuc, Director of the Phu Ha company, explained that in August 2015, his firm signed a contract with the Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co. Ltd to treat seven types of hazardous waste. From October 2015 to June 2016, it collected and delivered more about 142 tonnes of hazardous waste of Formosa, most of it empty paint and oil containers, to the treatment factory in Tram Than commune of Phu Ninh district, Phu Tho province.
Thuc assured that all the waste was transported by specialised vehicles and treated in line with regulations at the factory in Tram Than commune.
Formosa Ha Tinh was found responsible for the mass fish deaths along the coast of the central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue between April and May this year. It pledged to compensate over 11.5 trillion VND (500 million USD) to support local fishermen in changing their jobs and recover the polluted maritime environment.-VNA
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