Warning shot fired at big polluters at large

Rapid industrialisation has seen some investors leave a dirty footprint on Vietnam’s environment

The Taiwan-invested Tung Kuang Industrial Joint Stock Company will have to appear in court for destroying Hai Duong province’s Gie River, according to Vu Dinh Hien, head of the province’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment’s Environmental Management Section.

“The prosecution will be the first of its kind in Vietnam,” Hien told VIR.

He said the Ministry of Public Security’s Environment Police Department (C36) had transferred all related investigation documents on the metalwork manufacturer’s environmental violations to the provincial environmental police agency, which would continue investigations.

“After all the evidence is collected and relevant legal procedures are completed, the case will be brought to Hai Duong People’s Court,” Hien said.

Nghiem Vu Khai, vice chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Science, Technology and Environment, said no environmental violation cases had been successfully prosecuted in the past few years, nor had any environmentally-damaging enterprises been forced to shut down or move to another location.

Under the governmental Decree 177/2009/ND-CP, environment polluters are subject to fines of between $5,300-$26,300.

“The tough punishment for Tung Kuang is expected to deter other polluters from damaging the environment,” Khai said.

Nguyen The Chinh, vice head of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s (MoNRE) Institute of Strategy and Policy on Resources and Environment, said Tung Kuang’s prosecution would set alarm bells ringing for undiscovered polluters.

“Vietnam has the Law on  Environmental Protection and many other laws and regulations to protect the environment. However, they are just theoretical and mostly sneered at by polluters,” Chinh said.

Tung Kuang was caught red-handed in mid-April this year discharging untreated toxic waste directly into the Gie River as it has been suspected on doing  that since 2008.

Chinh said the case was more serious than previous ones, because it related to metal and chemical waste that were more toxic than foodstuff-related wastewater.

According to C36, Tung Kuang’s discharged water contained toxic chemicals and metal substances 10-times higher than permissible limits.

After its violation was detected, the company removed all of its discharging systems and installed new equipment to treat wastewater.

“The company’s new wastewater treatment system has been examined by local agencies. The examination results will be announced soon,” Hien said.

The company’s operations are halted for further investigations.

Recently, Taiwanese-backed seasoning maker Vedan escaped criminal charges after it agreed to compensate the farmers suffering from pollution along the Thi Vai River, which runs through Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces and Ho Chi Minh City.

Since 2008, many other foreign polluters have also been caught killing the environment, including the South Korean monosodium glutamate-maker Miwon Vietnam, Japan’s Dalat-Japan Food Company, Taiwan’s gas-cooker producer Taung Liang, tape product-producer Jorn Technology and Cosmos Knitting International, and the Indian-backed sugar and alcohol maker Nivl Joint Stock Company.

Most recently, Vietstar company, a subsidiary of US-based Lemma International Inc and owner of Vietstar solid waste treatment factory, was found burying nearly 2,500 tonnes of untreated waste in Ho Chi Minh City’s suburbs.