VietNamNet Bridge – Residents in Quang Ninh Province have been living in fear because of an oil spill from the Uong Bi thermopower plant that has yet to be cleaned.

Pham Huu Sang, a man living near Uong River, said he discovered a black current spilling over from the Uong Bi thermopower plant’s waste water system at 5 am on January 7.

Officers from appropriate agencies turned up on the spot after they received calls from local residents several hours later.

According to Sang, some residents who were trying to fish in the river panicked and ran away with their boats.

Nguyen Thi Tuyet, a local resident, said dozens of households living near the thermopower plant were “depressed to death” with the plant.

“We usually suffer from thick black smoke coming from the plant. We have been breathing polluted air for years,” she complained, adding that the oil spill had made the situation worse.

The cause of the spill was a crack in the FO oil cooling tank, which allowed the oil to penetrate the steam hold. When workers discharged stagnant water, the oil then spilled out into the Uong River. The FO oil cooling unit belongs to the S8 power generation unit of the 330 MW plant.

The Uong Bi City People’s Committee has reported the case to the Quang Ninh provincial authorities and has officially requested that the investor of the Uong Bi thermopower plant compensate the damages caused by the oil spill incident.

The corporation was also asked to take urgent action to settle the environmental consequences caused by the oil spill.

Lawyer Ha Thi Thanh from the Hanoi Bar Association said the power corporation has violated the environment law and it must pay compensation for the damages.

Le Van Hanh, deputy general director of the Power Generation Corporation No 1, the investor of the Uong Bi power plant, said at a meeting held on the morning of January 9 that the oil leaking into the Uong River had been isolated and collected by 8 am on January 8.

Pham Van Son, the director of the SOS Environment Company, a unit of the Nature and Environment Protection Association, confirmed that the oil spill had been fully treated with the most advanced technology.

However, it is still unclear how the power corporation will compensate local residents for the incident, because it will take time to test land and water samples and calculate the damages.

TN & MT