MONRE: Formosa meets standard three years after pollution incident
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) on July 24 confirmed that Formosa Ha Tinh had finally met national standards on sewage, three years after causing the country's biggest environmental crisis ever.
Ha Tinh (VNA) – The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment(MONRE) has confirmed that Formosa Ha Tinh had finally met nationalstandards on sewage, three years after causing the country's biggestenvironmental crisis ever.
The MONRE held a workshop in Ky Anh township on July 24 to report its assessment on the wastewater treatmentof the Taiwanese steel plant Formosa Hung Nghiep in the central province of HaTinh.
Deputy Minister of MONRE Vo Tuan Nhan said inspections showed the steelmakerhad completed most of the improvement work to its wastewater treatment systemdemanded by the Government.
The company so far fixed 52 out 53 environmental violations and was working toapply more eco-friendly coke dry quenching technology instead of current wetquenching. The new method has been proven to reduce air pollution and consumeless heat and energy.
“Since July 2016, Formosa Ha Tinh’s sewage and emissions before going out tothe environment have met Vietnam’s standards and are approaching those of moredeveloped countries in the world,” Nhan said.
“It has been more than three years since the day of the environmental incident.Formosa Ha Tinh has managed to overhaul issues and make sure of both economicdevelopment and environmental protection.”
A report by the Institute of Environmental Technology and the Institute ofMechanics, however, warned of the risk that the company’s treated wastewater isbeing discharged directly into the sea. According to the report, there was apossibility of severe sea pollution on large scale if an incident occurs andlasts for several days.
The researchers suggested building a procedure which would closely monitordischarged sewage and all facilities that release wastewater to the environmentmust be well-equipped for quick and efficient response should an incidentoccur.
The central coastline of Vietnam began witnessing mass fish death on April2016. An estimated of up to 70 tonnes of fish carcass was reported over thefour provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue.
A Government investigation later concludeda toxic spill of wastewater by the Formosa Ha Tinh caused the incident. Theheavy pollution was said to have affected more than 260,000 people who earntheir living via the sea.
The company took responsibility for the mass fish deaths and pledged tocompensate 500 million USD to support local fishermen and to help renew thepolluted marine environment.-VNA
Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of the central province of Quang Tri Ha Sy Dong has asked localities across the province to finish compensation for victims of the 2016 sea environmental incident in January 2018.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has asked agencies to comment on its special project to control companies thought to be likely of polluting the environment - even industries not yet in operation, such as power plants.
The central province of Ha Tinh has supported more than 60,800 residents affected by the Formosa-related marine environment incident, with total funding of more than 1.74 trillion VND (76.56 million USD).
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A corner of Formosa Ha Tinh (Photo: VNA) 
