>> Company suspended after serious environmental infractions
Formal criminal charges are expected to be filed against the Tung Kuang Joint Stock Company for blatant violations of environmental protection regulations.
 |
| An underground waste water drainage system |
The contamination of Ghe River, suspected to be the fault of Tung Kuang, has already led to the suspension of their activities.
On July 12, the Environmental Police Bureau under the Ministry of Public Security, asked the Hai Duong Police to further investigate suspicions that this Taiwanese company had released untreated waste water into the environment.
Nguyen Trong Thua, Vice Chairman of Hai Duong Province, said that the local authorities would take tough measures in this case and use it as a deterrence to other polluters nationwide.
Environmental police discovered on April 13 that the company had been discharging waste into the river in high concentrations which exceeded regulated levels.
The company had a waste water processing system but was caught using an illegal underground waste water drainage system, discharging some 250 cubic metres of harmful waste water into the river each day.
The pollution is said to have been occurring since October 2008. Their illegal acts helped them to save VND100 million
(USD 5,137) each month.
The company began their business in Hai Duong Province in 2003 with annual output of 5,000 tonnes of aluminum structures has already been fined twice for their violations.
The Taiwanese manufacturer invested some VND10 billion (USD 513,700) in building its self-contained waste water facilities.
