A digger removes the soil and sand layers of the Thach Khe iron mine (Source: VNA)Ha Tinh (VNA) - The central province of Ha Tinh has asked the Governmentnot to resume activities of the Thach Khe iron mine, the largest of its kind inSoutheast Asia.
The iron exploitation project was approved in 2007 at a cost of 1.59trillion VND (69.9 million USD) and the relocation of 3,000 households, butsuspended in 2011 after local authorities proposed closing the mine overenvironmental concerns.
Despite the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s rejection lastweek of a proposal to shut down the mine, Ha Tinh authorities want thesuspension of activities to continue.
Duong Tat Thang, Vice Chairman of the province’s People’sCommittee, said this would not be a good time to resume iron mining sincelocal residents are still recovering from the mass fish deaths caused last yearby the Taiwanese Hung Nghiep Formosa Steel Corporation.
Shortcomings of the iron mining project were revealed during thecommittee’s recent meetings with scientists, Thang said.
Some legal documents on which the environmental impact report wasbased have expired, since it was written a long time ago, he added.Insufficient infrastructure has been developed to serve the iron exploitationand no long-term solutions have been offered to support the livelihoods of theaffected households.
The project’s investor should conduct extensive studies of wastedischarge points by the Thach Dong River and Thach Hai Beach, Thang added.
Environmental monitoring stations should be established on bothsides of each waste discharge point to provide overall monitoring of heavymetals, he said.
This is an important issue that should be taken into carefulconsideration after last year’s environmental catastrophe, he said.
Provincial authorities have requested, in written documents, thatthe Government clarify the investor’s capital investment, the project’slong-term economic benefits, its exploitation, processing, and marketingtechniques, as well as its plans to help workers move to other jobs after it iscompleted, as well as solutions to protect the local environment, he added.-VNA
VNA
