VietNamNet Bridge - Nguyen Huu Thien, head of the advisory team for strategic environmental assessment of 12 hydropower dams on the Mekong, has warned about the serious consequences of the Lee & Man paper plant in Hau Giang province. 

However, the plant is not the only threat to the Hau River. The Duyen Hai coal thermal power plant in Tra Vinh province, the processing & mechanical engineering industrial zone and a golf course project in Can Tho City all would damage the river.

Thien, a scientist with in-depth research work on the western part of the southern region, said as the Hau River connects the interlaced river network in the Mekong Delta, it serves as the ‘blood vessel’ of the whole region. 

Any pollution to the Hau River will have direct impact on the lives of millions of people, aquatic creatures, fisheries, crops and biodiversity. 

As for the Lee & Man paper plant, the biggest concern is about the large volume of sodium hydroxide discharged to the Hau River.

Meanwhile, the golf course and entertainment complex in Con Au and Con Noi will affect the flow, cause landslides on the Can Tho riverside and hinder waterways. 

The Duyen Hai coal thermal power plant in Tra Vinh province, the processing & mechanical engineering industrial zone and a golf course project in Can Tho City all would damage the river.

The golf course will use large volumes of chemicals, fertilizer and pesticide which may spread in the Hau River and absorb into underground water. Can Tho River could suffer the most as the project is located on a Can Tho estuary.

As for the coal thermopower plant, the concern is in the dust and smoke which will pollute the air, soil and water.

The Duyen Hai 1 in the area causes serious pollution to the area. It creates smoke and kicks dusts to surrounding residential quarters, kills fish in ponds and spoils salt fields.

On the upper course of Mekong, the hydropower dams built by China have led to considerable reduction of the alluvium to ThevMekong Delta to 75 million tons in 2014 from 160 million tons in 1992. If all the 11 hydropower dams in Laos and Cambodia are built, the volume of alluvium would drop to 42 million tons a year.

“Mekong Delta, with three rice crops a year, yielding 25 million tons of rice a year and exports 14 million tons, is being attacked from all sides,” Thien said.

Dat Viet