In the afternoon of July 3, people living along both banks of the Ky Cung River, passing through Dong Kinh ward, discovered many thick white foams floating on the water surface.
The area where foam appeared is located near the drainage culvert in front of Dong Kinh Park.
A resident living nearby said that this phenomenon appeared from about 12 noon. Foam from the drain flows into the river, covering a section of the water surface, causing many people to worry about the risk of pollution.
Mr. Hoang Van Duc, Head of the Economic, Infrastructure and Urban Department of Dong Kinh ward, said that the foam phenomenon was recorded in the area near My Son, belonging to Dong Kinh ward.
Through initial inspection, functional agencies determined that the cause stemmed from a group of people hired to clean old houses pouring a can containing nano-foaming substance into the sewer.
According to Mr. Duc, the house was abandoned for a long time, now someone rented it out, so it was cleaned up. During the cleaning process, the group of workers discovered a white plastic can containing liquid. Because they did not know what this was, they poured it directly into the drainage system.
These two days it's been raining, the amount of water is large, and strong currents have swept this substance out into the river, creating a lot of foam on the water surface," Mr. Duc said.
Functional forces then inspected the related area, determining that this was not a particularly serious pollution phenomenon. The packaging of the plastic can was labeled with nano foam. When it rained heavily, the water rushed in quickly, sweeping this amount of substance into the river, creating white foam on the water surface.
Local authorities have made a record, reminded those involved and requested not to let similar incidents recur.
Mr. Duc advised people not to arbitrarily dump detergents, foam agents or liquids of unknown composition into sewers and drainage ditches. These substances need to be gathered in the right places for environmental sanitation units to collect and treat.
According to initial assessments, the incident occurred because the cleaner was ignorant and did not intentionally discharge waste into the environment. Functional agencies continue to inspect and inform the cause to avoid causing public panic.
