Discharging untreated waste alarmingly high

Management agencies have discovered that though Tan Thang Industrial Zone has been operating for seven years, it has just fulfilled 20 percent of the work volume needed to build a waste treatment system. The analysis of the samples taken from discharging outlets showed the indexes far exceeding the national standardized levels. For example, the TTS (total suspended solids) was four times higher than the allowed level, while the iron content exceeded by 5.88 times, BOD 17 times, and COD 16 times.

The report by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE) has released a report after the inspection tour to some localities, showing that the southern province of Binh Duong is the province which leads the country in terms of the number of discovered cases, in which enterprises discharge untreated waste into the environment. Pham Hong Son, Deputy Head of the Inspection Delegation, said that 14 out of 21 industrial zones in Binh Duong have been discovered discharging waste with indexes higher than the allowed levels.

In Hanoi, the police agency in charge of environmental crimes (C49) has discovered a case of discharging untreated waste into the environment in Phu Minh Industrial Zone, carried out by Nam Phong and Tay Do Trade Company. C49 has transferred the files of the case to the Hanoi Police for further investigation.

Prior to that, the discharging of untreated waste into the environment in the same industrial zone was reported by many local newspapers, which has prompted relevant agencies to investigate the cases.

What are the reasons?

According to Major General Nguyen Xuan Ly, Head of C49, in 2010, the environmental police discovered 5800 cases of violating laws on environmental protection, an increase of 27 percent in comparison with 2009.

Ly said that the violations are thought to be more serious and the number of cases will be even higher in 2011 than in 2010, especially in industrial production and craft villages.

A lot of industrial zones have been discovered as having incomplete concentrated waste treatment systems, which has forced enterprises operating in the zone to discharge waste illegally.

If enterprises build waste treatment systems themselves, they will spend at least five billion dong. Meanwhile, industrial zones always try to delay the construction of waste treatment systems until they have an occupancy rate of 70 percent of the industrial zone’s area.

Meanwhile, according to the Tay Ninh provincial Industrial Zone Management Board, the responsibilities of the involved parties in environmental protection remain unclear. Enterprises in industrial zones are put under the management of three agencies, the industrial zone management board, which grants investment licenses and verifies reports on the possible impacts on the environment; the local department of natural resources and the environment, which inspects the implementation of environmental protection laws; and the industrial zone developer, who supervises environmental protection activities in industrial zones. In fact, the relations between enterprises and the three agencies are loosened, which makes it difficult to force enterprises to take responsibility for protecting the environment.

Source: Tien phong