Workers spray chemicals to contain the stench at Nam Son landfill, Hanoi's Soc Son District. — VNA/VNS Photo Manh Khanh

According to Cao Xuan Thin, an official from Hanoi Urban Environment One Member Limited Company, the company's workers have to use more chemicals to treat the environment at the landfill because it was overloaded with garbage. They must also use HDPE sheets to cover garbage piles to prevent rainwater from leaking in and the stench from creeping out.

From October 23 to the beginning of November, the company sprayed 255 litres of chemicals to kill flies, 126 litres for stench treatment and covered nearly 17,000sq.m of trash burial slots, Thin said.

The amount of chemicals has partly solved the bad smell from the landfill in surrounding residential areas.

The Nam Son waste treatment complex was built in 1999 in the city’s Soc Son District on more than 157ha which divided into two phases.

The Nam Son landfill receives about 5,000 tonnes of waste daily from 17 districts of Hanoi.

In 2011, Hanoi decided to expand the second phase of the landfill with an area of more than 73ha in three communes of Hong Ky, Nam Son và Bac Son to deal with the overloaded garbage burial slots.

The city also has a plan to relocate people living within 500m of the landfill.

Accordingly, 1,100 households in the three communes would move out of the total area of about 396ha around the landfill. Compensation is estimated to cost about VND3.4 trillion (US$146.7 million).

However, concerned over the serious environmental pollution and compensation issues, affected people have protested, blocking the way to the landfill several times since last year.

On October 30, the Standing Committee of Hanoi City Party Committee held a dialogue - the second time since the beginning of this year - with people living in the area near Nam Son landfill to remove problems in site clearance compensation and other issues.

Many commitments were made at the meeting to ensure optimal policies on compensation prices, health insurance and clean water for local people.

At the dialogue, Nguyen Quoc Hung, vice chairman of the Hanoi's People's Committee, required the Department of Construction to ensure publicity and transparency in the process of environmental monitoring at the landfill to avoid environmental problems that affect people living around the area.

The city also decided to send 30 officers from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to the communes to work with localities to set up compensation plans.

This issue is expected to solved before the Lunar New Year festival, Hung said.  VNS

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