VietNamNet Bridge – Following the spill of toxic mud in Hungary, former Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh, as well as many intellectuals issued a letter to the Party and the State requesting a temporary halt of the bauxite mining projects in the Central Highlands. 

Hungary’s red-mud spill - a warning for Vietnam’s bauxite projects

The letter was sent to Party Secretary-General Nong Duc Manh, President Nguyen Minh Triet, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

 

 Besides Madam Binh, the letter was signed by other high-profile people, including Major-General Le Van Cuong, Prof. Ho Ngoc Dai, researcher Phan Hong Giang, Prof. Chu Hao, researcher Duong Danh Dy, writer Nguyen Khac Mai, economist Pham Chi Lan, cultural researcher and writer Nguyen Ngoc, researcher Tran Duc Nguyen, poet Tran Viet Phuong, poet Vu Quan Phuong, researcher Nguyen Trung, Dr. To Van Truong, Prof. Hoang Tuy and Prof. Dang Hung Vo.

 

In the letter, Madam Binh, together with  the country’s intellectual elite “strongly urged” the Politburo, the Party Central Committee, the National Assembly and the Government to reconsider the implementation of the bauxite mining projects in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

 

“Fearing Vietnam’s inability to deal with possible spills of toxic red mud from alumina production,” intellectuals demanded that the Party and the State immediately halt the construction of the alumina processing plant in Tan Rai, Lam Dong province, and conduct more research on the methods of dealing with the toxic mud. They also demanded that the Nhan Co project in Dak Nong province, currently negotiated with a foreign partner, to be temporarily halted; The same demand was issued with regards to other current bauxite mining projects in the Central Highlands.

 

Furthermore, they proposed  that an independent research group be formed to conduct a comprehensive study of bauxite mining in the Central Highlands, The group would include renowned scientists, economists and social activists.

 

The result of the research would be then presented to the National Assembly and made public for people to express their opinions, the intellectuals suggested.

 

“The media has recently reported that the Chinese government closed many bauxite mines to avoid environmental disasters. Therefore, we have a strong basis to negotiate with the foreign partner,” the letter says, referring to the Chinese company that is participating in the bauxite project in Vietnam.

 

Also in this letter, the authors drew attention to the adverse aspects of two bauxite mining projects in the Central Highlands, which had been previously pointed out by scientists during the workshops held in 2008-2009. Specifically, they said, these projects are uneconomic and harmful for the environment, and they will cause serious economic, political and social consequences, as well as seriously threaten national security.

 

The letter describes the lucrativeness of the bauxite projects as “unrealistic”, saying that instead it is nearly certain to cause losses. Constructing a road system and seaports needed for production and export of alumina will also prove problematic, at least in the next few years. This means that even if the construction of the Tan Rai alumina plant is completed, it may then have to close for a period of time..

 

Moreover, if Vietnam can only produce several tons of alumina a year, it will only be able to export to one market -- China. In other words, Vietnam would become dependent on Chinese market, the letter analyses.

 

The authors of the letter also point out that producing one ton of alumina creates three tons of toxic red mud. The more alumina is produced, the more red mud is discharged and the bigger the threat of an environmental disaster.

 

“The disaster in Hungary is a serious warning for Vietnam,” the letter says.

 

“Red mud reservoirs will be like bombs hung over the heads of millions of people,” it says, “while our management ability and technological knowledge is poorer than those in Hungary”.

 

Based on scientific analyses, they further say stopping the bauxite projects and conducting a comprehensive research about bauxite in the Central Highlands is the safest option.

 

In the worst case, Vietnam may have to entirely cancel bauxite mining in the Central Highlands. If this happens, it will be “a very painful decision and it will be a great loss for the economy, with the Tan Rai alumina plant having already been built and a lot of effort put into the Nhan Co alumina plant.”

 

However, according to the authors of the letter, this great loss is still a smaller price than what Vietnam would have to pay in the future in the highly possible case of a disaster occurring during bauxite mining. .

 

“Only with the State and the Party leaders’ courage and highest sense of responsibility” to the country’s fortune and the support of the people can this difficult decision be made, the authors of the letter emphasised.

 

So far, more than 1,500 people have signed the letter. 

Bauxite is typically strip mined and is used to produce aluminum.

 

According to the estimates of Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam’s reserves in the Central Highlands amount to 5.4 billion tons. Despite its large reserves, Vietnam produces only 30,000 tons of bauxite per year.

 

A draft mining plan for bauxite was approved by the Vietnamese government in 2007. Vinacomin has laid out a plan for six bauxite mining projects covering over 1800 square kilometres in the Central Highlands. The first two processing plants have been contracted to Chalco, a Chinese mining company.

 

The Nhan Co project in Dak Nong Province and the Tan Rai complex in Lam Dong Province are expected to produce 600,000 tons of alumina per year. Vietnam has indicated that it needs about $15.6 billion to invest in major bauxite and alumina refining projects by 2025. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved several large mining projects for the Central Highlands. 

 

Red mud is a solid waste product of the Bayer process, the principal industrial means of refining bauxite to produce alumina. A typical plant produces one to two times as much red mud as alumina. The exact ratio depends on the type of bauxite used in the refining process.

 

Red mud is a mixture of solid and metallic oxide-bearing impurities, and presents one of the aluminium industry’s most serious disposal problems. The red colour is caused by the presence of the oxidised iron , which can make up to 60% of the mass of the red mud. In addition to iron, the other dominant particles include silica, unbleached residual aluminum, and titanium oxide.

 

Red mud cannot be disposed of easily. This is a serious problem as it takes up land area which can neither be built on nor farmed, even when the mud dries. Due to the Bayer process the mud is highly basic with a pH ranging from 10 to 13. Several methods are used to lower the alkaline pH to an acceptable level to decrease the impact on the environment.

 

In early October, approximately one million cubic metres of red mud from an alumina plant near Kolontár in Hungary were accidentally released into the surrounding countryside in the Ajka alumina plant accident, killing seven people and contaminating a large area. All life in the Marcal river was said to have been "extinguished" by the red mud, and within days the mud had reached the Danube river.

TVN