A community in Ha Tinh Province has been living in a seriously contaminated environment for over 3 years.
The environment has been harmed due to untreated waste-water discharged by a latex plant.
Ha Tinh Rubber Latex Processing Plant breaches environmental protection regulations
The Ha Tinh Rubber Latex Processing Plant was established in 2006 at Ha Linh Commune, Huong Khe District, Ha Tinh Province. Since then, the company has not treated its industrial waste-water in a proper manner, polluting the water sources of Ha Linh Commune, especially of Ba Khe stream.
As a result, hundreds of families living near the plant have to deal with the pungent odor of the untreated waste-water released from the plant.
According to locals, the cause for Ba Khe’s polluted state is that the plant has been directly releasing their untreated waste-water into the stream.
DTiNews reporters visited Ha Linh Commune and saw that Ba Khe stream had been filled with all unprocessed wastewater coming out from the plant. It has unbearable smell.
Dan, living at Tan Kieu Hamlet, Ha Linh Commune said, “Our life is being destroyed. We may die because of this if there is no timely solution. The smell is horrible. Especially on hot and windy days when it is unbearable. The water has turned black while fish and shrimp have all died.”
DTiNews reporters found that the plant had built five man made ditches used for containing its waste-water. However, they do not have water proof canvases. The waste-water is not treated in an appropriate manner and is discharged directly into the stream.
Hoang Duy Viet, Manager of the Ha Tinh Rubber Latex Processing Plant admitted, “The plant’s five ditches do not meet the demand of treating waste-water so the direct releasing of waste-water into the stream is unavoidable. However, it’s not dangerous because the waste-water does not contain toxic chemicals.”
Viet added that his plant had applied a very simple waste-water processing system and had not invested in a waste-water processing system with standard technology because of financial reasons.
Viet promised that he would deal with the pollution by renovating the ditches from which the plant’s waste-water are being leaked into the stream and removing waste-water from the plant’s ditches.
The People’s Committee of Ha Linh Commune said that they had already reported to higher level authorities about the environmental conditions.
Ba Khe stream’s water has turned black
