ĐỒNG NAI — Pak Việt Nam Company from the southern province of Đồng Nai has been caught red-handed discharging black substance – suspected to be wastewater – into Thị Vải river.

A multi-agency task force recorded the discharge at 9pm on Monday, Việt Nam News Agency reported.

The task force comprises officials from the public security ministry’s environmental crime prevention police department, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province’s environmental police department, Đồng Nai Province’s environmental police force and Tân Thành District’s natural resources and environment division.

The blackish, foul-smelling water was being released through the Long Thành District-based company’s storm water drainage system (through manholes and drainage inlets located 100 metres from its gates), the task force noted.

The wastewater flows through Mỹ Xuân B1 - Tiến Hùng Industrial Park, gets carried by Keo stream to Thị Vải stream, which then flows into Thị Vải river.

A company representative told the task force that as its coal gasification furnace broke down from December 23 to 26, the company had to use a 1,800kw/h-capacity pump to pump out the “coolant liquid”, which they claimed was water.

The task force has ordered the company to stop discharging wastewater into the stream, and has collected samples of the wastewater, solid waste and the alleged “coolant liquid” for analysis.

Pak Việt Nam specialises in the production of ceramic tiles, as per the licence granted by Đồng Nai Province’s Department of Planning and Investment in 2012.

Pak Việt Nam started operations in the end of 2014. The firm has registered its annual hazardous waste at a combined 55.5 tonnes, including, but not limited to, 50 tonnes of sludge from the treatment of wastewater, 1.8 tonnes of discharge from treatment of emission, 1.2 tonnes of plastic packages, 120 kilogrammes of waste containing heavy metal from enamelling and polishing processes and 24kg of fluorescent bulbs, among others.

The company’s hazardous waste is transported and processed by Tây Ninh Province-based Thái Tuấn JSC as per a contract signed last September.

The Thị Vải river has seen serious industrial pollution, with the most notorious incident being the Vedan plant case, where it was discovered that the monosodium glutamate (MSG)-manufacturing Taiwanese firm illegally released wastewater into the river for 14 years – which was reportedly responsible for the destruction of the river system. — VNS