On May 29, Mr. Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment (NNMT) of Quang Ngai province - said that the unit had just sent a report to the Provincial People's Committee on the results of inspection and handling of information reflecting environmental pollution at the Son Tinh submerged canal.
According to the report, the results of wastewater monitoring at the rainwater drainage culvert of Tinh An Tay industrial cluster show that some pollution parameters exceed environmental technical standards. This reflects that the wastewater control of some production facilities in the industrial cluster does not meet the requirements; there are signs that wastewater has not been treated to meet standards or the connection and discharge into the rainwater drainage system is not in accordance with regulations.
Specifically, the indices BOD5, COD, total phosphorus and Coliform all exceeded the standards, of which Coliform exceeded up to 48 times. This result shows that the source of discharge contains a large amount of organic matter, nutrients and microorganisms, characteristic of both production wastewater and domestic wastewater.
Regarding the surface water quality on the Son Tinh submerged canal, functional agencies recorded that organic pollution, nutrient pollution and microbial pollution are occurring quite seriously. BOD5 and COD parameters are at a high level, while the content of dissolved oxygen (DO) is low, and the self-cleaning capacity of the water source is reduced.
Many other indicators such as Ammonium (NH4+), total nitrogen, total phosphorus, Coliform and Coliform heat-resistant exceeding standards in many locations show that water sources are under synthetic impact from many different sources of discharge.
Through actual surveys, functional agencies recorded that in many canal sections, there is a phenomenon of water turning black, emitting odors, sediment accumulating and poor flow, with signs of local anaerobic environment.
Notably, the level of pollution has increased significantly in the canal section flowing through the area from Tinh An Tay Industrial Cluster to Phong Nien 2 bridge (Tho Phong commune), a place that concentrates receiving many wastewater sources and has limited flow capacity.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Environment of Quang Ngai province, the cause of pollution in the Son Tinh submerged canal comes from many factors, including the impact from the discharge activities of Tinh An Tay Industrial Cluster.
Currently, this industrial cluster has not been invested in a centralized wastewater collection and treatment system according to the approved plan. Wastewater treatment is mainly carried out by each enterprise itself.
Monitoring results at the rainwater drainage culvert of the industrial cluster show that there is a possibility that wastewater has not been treated to meet requirements or connected and discharged improperly into the rainwater drainage system and then flows into the Son Tinh submerged canal.
After the press reflected on the environmental pollution situation in this area, the Department of Environmental Crime Prevention and Control Police (Ministry of Public Security), Quang Ngai Provincial Police, Sub-Department of Environmental Protection of the Central and Central Highlands Regions, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the province and Truong Quang Trong Ward People's Committee organized many inspection and field surveys at Tinh An Tay industrial cluster and along the Son Tinh submerged canal.
By the time of the survey, functional agencies had not detected any businesses illegally discharging waste directly into the canal; some businesses in the industrial cluster are also temporarily suspending production activities. However, functional agencies said that in the past time, some businesses in Tinh An Tay Industrial Cluster have been administratively sanctioned in the field of environmental protection. Therefore, the risk of pollution arising from the discharge activities of production facilities still needs to be closely monitored and supervised.
