According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, in the past time, the mass media has reflected the situation of interfering in the automatic and continuous monitoring system at some businesses, leading to the risk of misleading environmental data. This is a worrying issue, which may reduce the effectiveness of state management and directly affect monitoring and pollution warning.
Faced with this situation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has sent a document to the People's Committees of provinces and cities requesting them to direct the Departments of Agriculture and Environment and relevant agencies to urgently organize a comprehensive review of automatic wastewater and emission monitoring systems in the area.
One of the key contents is to require facilities to conduct inspections using expired standard substances, which are linked to standards according to measurement regulations; and at the same time assess the accuracy of the monitoring system. The arising errors must be fully recorded and handled according to current regulations.
In addition, localities need to deploy quality control and assess the relative accuracy of the system (RA), prioritizing large-scale facilities with high pollution risks. Comparison monitoring must be carried out in coordination with independent organizations with sufficient capacity. In case errors exceeding the threshold are detected, the data will not be recognized and the system will be forced to readjust entirely before continuing to operate.
The Ministry also requires strict inspection of operating logs and equipment logs to detect unusual changes. Thereby, clearly distinguishing between valid technical correction and intentional adjustment of coefficients to falsify data. Departments of Agriculture and Environment must directly manage the highest administrator account of the data receiving and transmitting equipment, ensuring that no illegal interference occurs.
Along with that, localities need to strengthen security, seal and monitor the monitoring system. The installation of cameras in station buildings must ensure the monitoring of equipment controls, image data must be stored for at least 3 months and transmitted to management agencies for inspection and comparison when necessary.
Field inspection is also emphasized, especially for waste pipes and sample pipes. The Ministry requests resolute handling if detecting acts of diluting samples, intervening in waste flows or installing systems that do not comply with regulations to conceal the level of pollution.
In necessary cases, functional agencies can conduct in-depth inspections of equipment, sensors and analysis systems to prevent technical tricks such as pumping inert gas or other substances to distort measurement results.
In particular, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment emphasized that if intentional fraud and distortion of monitoring data are detected, it is necessary to strictly handle them according to legal regulations, and transfer the file to the police agency if there are signs of crime.
At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hai - Deputy Director of the Department of Environment affirmed that the act of intervening and falsifying monitoring data is an act of violating the law. Mr. Hai also said that he will strengthen surprise inspections, controlled inspections and data quality control, especially for establishments with abnormal signs.
