QUẢNG NINH – The People’s Committee of northern Quảng Ninh Province has ordered the coal mining sector to implement urgent solutions to protect the environment.

Accordingly, the committee has asked for lowering the height of coal dumps, planting trees to cover the dumps and stepping up monitoring of the environment.

Việt Nam Coal and Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited (Vinacomin) and Đông Bắc Corporation under the Ministry of Defence have proposed solutions under six groups.

The proposals include solutions to avoid landslides and rocks floating to protect the environment; dredging and improving water drainage system; relocating inhabitants out of risky areas; treating waste water, water on the surface, toxic waste and solid waste; and reducing level of dust, noise and emissions. Vinacomin also proposed recovering environment of some 190ha of land with dumps at Chính Bắc Núi Béo, Đông Cao Sơn and Hà Ráng areas within this year.

In addition, the corporation aims to stop dumping of coal at dumps exposed to Highway 18A during the 2018-20 period and construct conveyor belts to transport coal from and to ports and power plants by 2020.

To effectively implement the proposals, deputy chairman of Quảng Ninh Province’s People’s Committee Đặng Huy Hậu asked the two corporations to share the conveyor belt system to avoid waste, reduce released dust while using the mistorising system and launch projects to dredge rivers and streams.

The companies were also urged to build automatic environmental monitoring stations following standards.

Earlier, households living in Mông Dương Ward, Cẩm Phả City, submitted a petition to local authorities detailing the risks they face from coal mining activities of the Thăng Long One Member Ltd Company, located nearby.

Within this month alone, three downpours have washed mud from the company’s dumps towards houses in the area, causing floods and landslides. Some families have been forced to leave their homes for temporary shelters.

Hoàng Ngọc Chí, a local, said the company started coal mining activities in July 2015, dumping piles of soil and rock 30 to 70m high without any safety measures. The dumps are less than 50m from the houses of locals.

The company often drills the ground for mine explosions without informing the public. – VNS