Sewage discharge was the culprit responsible for a mass fish kill earlier this month in central Ha Tinh Province’s Ky Anh Town, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s environmental and disease monitoring centre announced.

The results were revealed after the centre, in co-operation with the provincial authorities, arrived at the site to take water and fish samples to determine the cause of the incident.

Dozens of households in Vung Ang Town and the neighbouring communes of Ky Ha, Ky  Hai, Ky  Ninh and Ky  Loi complained about their caged fish dying en masse. It has caused the loss of nearly VNĐ3 billion (US$135,000).

They blamed the Formosa Industrial Zone and Vung Ang 1 Thermopower Plant, which is located nearby, for discharging untreated wastewater into the sea.

The centre said the toxic substance contained in the water in Vũng Áng Town originated from untreated sewage, which was directly discharged into the sea, thus contaminating the water and poisoning the fish.

To address the problem, the centre has asked the authorized agencies to inspect the wastewater treatment systems of all processing factories and companies in Ky Anh Town’s industrial zone.

The water quality should be monitored regularly, especially water sources that serve aquaculture production, the centre said.

VNS