Vietnam to check factories' wastewater treatment plants
Amid rising concern over industrial water pollution, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has said it will begin a nationwide check of factories’ wastewater treatment systems in August.
The main target of the inspection would be firms that discharge 200 cubic meters or more of wastewater a day into seas and rivers across the country, news website VnExpress reported on July 28.
It said the results are expected to be released to the media in late October.
Industrial pollution has been a hot-button issue in Vietnam since hundreds of tons of fish washed ashore in April in the four central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue.
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Last month Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp., a subsidiary of Taiwan's Formosa Plastics, admitted it had caused the disaster and promised to pay US$500 million in compensation.
Earlier this month the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment inspected a US$1.2-billion paper mill belonging to Hong Kong’s Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Limited after environmental experts voiced concern about its waste treatment system.
Though the plant will only begin a test run in 2018, many fear it will pollute the Hau River in the lower reaches of the Mekong River and kill fish when it begins operation.
The findings are yet to be made public.
