VietNamNet Bridge – A mud waste product of manganese mining and exploitation has allegedly polluted the environment and threatened the lives of local residents in Chiem Hoa District in northern Tuyen Quang Province.

A mud waste product of manganese mining and exploitation has allegedly polluted the environment and threatened the lives of local residents in Chiem Hoa District in northern Tuyen Quang Province.

MIMECO – Phuc Son Manganese, Mineral and Mechanics Joint-stock Company has exploited manganese mines for 13 years in Phuc Son Commune, Chiem Hoa District, home of the largest manganese reserve in the province.

The volume of mud waste has reached thousands of cubic metres after years of manganese production - and containment dams for the mud waste were poorly built, a Tuyen Quang-based Vietnam News Agency (VNA) correspondent has found.

Upstream reservoirs of post manganese production were also filled with mud, making it hard to distinguish between the containment reservoir’s banks and the muddy wastewater.

Local residents told the VNA correspondent on Friday they had to build small dams around their fields to protect them from the mud waste.

“Mud waste from the mine used to overflow into our fields before the dams were built. Even after the dams were built, mud waste overflow was still a problem when it rained hard,” Nguyen Van Sang, a resident of Na Pet Hamlet in Phuc Son Commune, said.

“In 2013 and 2014, mud waste even swept away our home furniture and utensils.”

Wastewater is another problem. Na Pet Hamlet resident Ma Thi Hoan said locals are unhappy that wastewater flows from the mine down to their hamlet every time it rains.

“We held several meetings with the company’s leaders to voice our discontent. They committed to solve the problem. But then nothing changed.”

MIMECO – Phuc Son Company’s mining licence, issued by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, expired three years ago. The company’s licence to discharge wastewater, issued by Tuyen Quang’s People’s Committee, expired at the end of 2015.

Nguyen Xuan Thao, the director of the company, said his company has downscaled work at the mine while renewing the licences.

In response to complaints, he said the embankment dams the company built were “solid”.

Pham Van Luong, the deputy director of the provincial Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said the agency was unaware of the situation, even though the department just inspected the waste dumping practices and the wastewater reservoirs of mining operations in the province.

Luong said the department would investigate the case and impose stringent punishments for any violations found.

VNS