Burning landfill causes pollution
Located next to National Highway 28, the section connecting the center of Di Linh commune with Phan Thiet, the Gung Re landfill in Hang Lang village currently accumulates thousands of tons of open-air waste.
On May 27, Mr. Tran Nhat Thi - Chairman of Di Linh Commune People's Committee - said that Gung Re landfill has closed due to overload.
According to Mr. Thi, about 10 days ago, the landfill caught fire and has been going on for a long time. The fire is smoldering continuously, causing a column of smoke to rise high, with no signs of stopping.
Records at the scene show that the surface of garbage in many areas has turned black and gray after a long period of smoldering. However, deep inside the layers of garbage are still burning, forming many columns of white smoke with a strong stench.
Smoke from the landfill covered the surrounding area, at many times spreading to National Highway 28, causing passersby to wear masks to limit inhaling smoke and dust.
People living near the area said that the pollution situation has lasted for many days. During hot weather or when there is strong wind, the smoke smell spreads more strongly, directly affecting daily life and health.
Mr. K'Brinh, a resident of Di Linh commune, said that the landfill once caught fire in March and has been extinguished. However, after that, the fire continued to smolder and recur. Recent early-season rains have helped reduce smoke but the stench is still very strong.
The overloaded landfill emits a terrible stench. Now it is burning again, causing smoke, dust, and a pungent smell to cover it, causing serious pollution and affecting the health of surrounding people. Functional agencies need to soon have remedial measures to ensure people's lives," Mr. K'Brinh said.
Mr. Nguyen Cao Hieu reflected that smoke and odor from the landfill appear day and night, especially heavier when there is strong wind. Many people often have headaches, coughs and discomfort due to air pollution.
Need to have decisive handling measures
Not only causing environmental pollution, the fire also seriously affected the pine forest around the landfill.
Hundreds of pine trees along the garbage dump were scorched, leaves turned yellow due to the impact of hot smoke and toxic gases.
Recent early-season rains have caused leachate to spill into the pine forest area and coffee gardens below, posing a potential risk of environmental pollution.
According to Di Linh Commune People's Committee, Gung Re landfill has now stopped receiving garbage, and all domestic waste of the locality has been transferred to another place for treatment.
However, some scrap collectors still secretly enter the landfill area to burn garbage to get scrap metal, leading to repeated fires.
The locality has organized firefighting many times, but the handling is difficult and costly. In the coming time, we will continue to inspect and thoroughly handle this situation," Mr. Tran Nhat Thi said.
Previously, at the beginning of 2026, the Gung Re landfill once fell into serious overload, waste spilled onto National Highway 28 and neighboring residential areas, so it was forced to temporarily stop operating.
Regarding long-term solutions, Di Linh Commune People's Committee is developing a plan to strengthen control of the old landfill area with a camera monitoring system, strictly handling acts of illegal dumping and burning of waste.
The locality continues to coordinate with specialized agencies to implement a plan to treat the amount of residual waste and gradually improve the regional environment.
