VietNamNet Bridge – The government of Tien Giang is still awaiting an environmental impact assessment report from Taiwan’s Dai Duong Paper Production Co Ltd before it makes a decision on the fate of the firm’s paper project.

“Provincial authorities have to wait for the environmental impact assessment report from Dai Duong to decide what to do next.” -- File photo

A local environmentalist has asked the Mekong Delta province to revoke the investment certificate of the US$220 million project, citing high risk of pollution.

Nguyen Hong Thuy, deputy director of Tien Giang’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said the department had forwarded the proposal by Associate Professor Dr. Le Trinh, vice chairman of the Vietnam Association of Environmental Impact Assessment, to the provincial government.

“Provincial authorities have to wait for the environmental impact assessment report from Dai Duong to decide what to do next,” Thuy told the Daily.

The report will then be assessed by a council which comprises environmental experts, she said.

Regarding other paper mill projects in the province, Thuy said all of them must operate in accordance with law.

For example, investors must do environmental impact assessment reports on their projects, she said.

Meanwhile, the department and other relevant agencies have yet to reach common ground on how to allow Dai Duong to use surface water and treat wastewater, Thuy said, admitting that this is a tough issue for provincial authorities.

In his proposal, Trinh said the project should be stopped as it would potentially pollute the environment. The project would discharge 5,000 cubic meters of wastewater a day based on data of the provincial environment department, he said.

Its wastewater would contain toxic substances such as chlorine compounds that are dangerous to human health and the environment, according to Trinh.

If it is discharged into the Tien River, it would cause an environmental disaster as the river is the main source of water for daily household activities, agricultural and seafood farming, and tourism, the subsistence livelihoods of millions of people in the delta.

This is an environmentally unfriendly project, he stressed.

The Tien Giang Industrial Zones Authority granted an investment certificate for Dai Duong Paper Production Co Ltd in March.

Covering over 227,000 square meters at Long Giang IP, the mill would produce Duplex and Kraft paper, and products for household use when it is up and running in August 2017.

SGT