Si Tan Xuan, the owner of a recreational fishing site, has just spent VND80 million (US$4,812) on soil and sand to protect his ponds from the black runoff from a “mountain” that has sprung up beside his business.

One of the coal “mountains” in Binh Thang Commune in Binh Duong Province’s Di An District (Photo: SGGP)

The runoff has already caused Xuan the loss of hundreds of millions of dong worth of fish at his business in Binh Thang Commune, just north of Ho Chi Minh City. “I took photographs of the dying fish and reported the case to the commune administration but I have yet to receive any response,” he said.
Binh Duong Province’s Di An District has many coal “mountains” even though the province itself has no coal mine.
The piles are inadequately covered with corrugated iron and coal dust is freely blown or washed off the mountains.
A section of the Dong Nai River near the coal mountains has turned black and on sunny days the coal dust reduces visibility in the commune and makes it difficult to breathe.
Hai Bien and five other locals whose families rely on fish farms, are on the verge of bankruptcy with their ponds turning darker every day and their fish simply unable to survive.

Trucks carrying coal to and from their commune damage the local streets, which were built from the locals’ own money and were not designed for trucks.
A resident identified only as V.P. said locals became very worried every time a coal delivery was due because “trucks travel carelessly and completely ignore other people on the road.”
The trucks and coal mountains began appearing in the commune early this year when the Binh Duong Department of Planning and Investment gave approval for five coal businesses to commence operations in the commune.
Located near ports that service Dong Nai Province and Ho Chi Minh City, the businesses import and sort coal before selling it, according to a report by the Di An District Natural Resources and Environment Office.

No environmental impact studies were carried out before the approvals were given, according to the report.The approved coal businesses – Ngan Dan Trade and Service Company, Tuan Bac Company and branches of Hong Minh Quan, Vinaconex and Nam Viet Joint Stock – had previously been shut down by the Dong Nai and HCMC governments for polluting their local area.

Even more ironically, 16 businesses that were polluting Binh Thang Commune were recently forced to move out after provincial authorities relocated 400-plus businesses away from residential areas.
Nguyen Thanh Huy, deputy head of Di An District Natural Resources and Environment Office, said the office had asked Binh Duong authorities and environment agencies to punish companies that were polluting Binh Thang Commune.
The Di An District government has also asked the province to reconsider the licenses issued to the coal businesses.
Huynh Van Trai, director of Binh Duong Department of Planning and Investment, said his office had complied fully with Vietnam’s Enterprise Law, “which does not require us to evaluate a business’s impact on the environment when issuing licenses.”
It is a business’s own fault if it disobeys local environment or construction rules, Trai said.
Moreover, coal was not listed as a prohibited product so “we couldn’t refuse them,” the department’s Pham Cong Ly said.

If a business damages the environment or the local economy “it is the job of the district and provincial departments of natural resources and environment to deal with them,” Ly said.

Source: SGGP