VietNamNet Bridge – The four-month-old Mao Khe Thermal Power Plant in northern Quang Ninh Province's Dong Trieu District is said to be polluting the environment.

Quang Ninh Province's Mao Khe Thermal Power Plant has provoked anger from local residents who claim that it is severely polluting the environment.

Oil and waste water from the plant has affected the living conditions of hundreds of residents in Dong Son and Xuan Binh hamlets in Binh Khe Commune, Dong Trieu District.

Vu Thanh An, party committee secretary of Dong Son Hamlet, said the pollutants started to flow into the Cam River days after the plant opened.

Dust generated by the plant also blankets the area, choking residents and seeping into houses.

Le Ba Cai, a resident in Dong Son Hamlet, said his house 500m from the plant often shook when the plant was in full operation. Some walls were already cracked, he added.

Another resident, Ngo Thi Nhi, said coal dust covered her house every day. She said she often heard explosions from the plant at night.

The plant's director, Tran Van Giang, admitted that oil spills happened in early days of operation due to carelessness.

However, the plant had fixed equipment to stop the problem and also scooped waste oil from the river, he said.

Giang said the explosions from the plant often happened at night when steam accumulated and escaped from an automatic valve. But he said this problem was unavoidable.

Regarding coal dust and smoke, Giang said the plant's waste treatment system could handle around 99.8 per cent while the remaining 0.2 per cent would diffuse into the environment.

The plant planned to cover the coal storehouse to prevent dust from spreading, he said.

The director denied that the plant was dumping untreated waste water into the environment and said the plant had a self-contained treatment system.

However, local residents and authorities want the plant to take measures to put an end to the pollution.

The US$557 million thermal power plant was opened in April.

Covering an area of 72ha in Dong Trieu District, it is equipped with two turbines that have a combined capacity of 440MW.

It burns the dust of coal transported from Mao Khe, Trang Bach, Khe Chuoi and Hong Thai mines to generate electricity.

Source: VNS