The forestry plantation where the illegal landfill was discovered. (Photo thanh nien.vn) HaTinh (VNA) - Two companies involved in an illegal case ofhazardous waste landfill in central Ha Tinh province have been fined a total 1billion VND or 44,000 USD.
Theprovincial People’s Committee on December 16 fined Taiwanese Hung NghiepFormosa Steel Plant and a local contractor involved in the waste treatment ofthe plant.
Thecommittee said Formosa was fined 560 million VND for transferring the treatmentof its hazardous waste to an unqualified company. Meanwhile, Ky Anh district’surban environment company was fined 450 million VND for polluting theenvironment by undertaking landfill of untreated industrial hazardous waste.
InJuly last year, local residents discovered waste from Formosa being transportedto a forestry plantation of the district environment company’s director forlandfill. Following checks at the site, authorities found many packs of muddywaste taken from Formosa’s waste reservoir in holes at the plantation.
Inrelated news, authorities in Ha Tinh and neighboring Quang Binh province destroyed435 tonnes of frozen seafood that was contaminated with toxins from the Formosatoxic spill in April last year into the ocean near Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, QuangTri and Thua Thien- Hue.
Itcomprised 362 tonnes of seafood stored in Ha Tinh’s Loc Ha district and 73tonnes kept in 11 warehouses around Quang Binh. The seafood was harvested inthe ocean areas affected by Formosa toxins.
Lastmonth, the government agreed to expand compensation to traders and fishermenwho had contaminated seafood stored but the quantity has not been transferredto related agencies to be destroyed.
Thousandsof tonnes of seafood harvested in the affected ocean areas after the Formosatoxic spill were collected for landfill earlier this year in the fourprovinces, ensuring the contaminated seafood could not be consumed in themarket.-VNA
VNA
