Tanks used to carry waste which was dumped into the river are seized by police. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Lý Đình Vũ, one of three people involving in the oil dumping into the upper section of Đà River, gave himself up to the police, the Vietnam News Agency reported on Sunday.

Earlier, police said on Friday that the other two had been arrested.

According to police investigation, on October 6, Vũ, 37 years old from northern province of Bắc Ninh was alleged to have hired Nguyễn Chương Đại from Bắc Ninh Province và Hoàng Văn Thám from Lạng Sơn Province to drive a truck from Bắc Ninh to Thanh Hà Porcelain and Ceramic Company in Phú Thọ Town, northern Phú Thọ Province.

There, they pumped waste into 10 containers with capacity of about 10cu.m and carried them to Chí Đại Commune, Văn Lâm District, Hưng Yên Province.

On October 8, the three carried the waste on a four-seated car and a truck, allegedly dumping it to the area around Phúc Tiến Ward, Kỳ Sơn District, Hòa Bình Province where Đà River runs through, causing tap water supplied by Đà Water Plant being polluted and leaving thousands of local people without clean water.

The Hòa Bình Province’s police said they would look into the case as an environmental pollution crime and work with municipal authorities to identify violations of related individuals and organisations.

Safe water

Water samples taken from Đà River and tap water supplied by the river have met safety standards, according to Hà Nội Department of Health.

The test results were announced on Saturday, ten days since the water crisis began in southwestern districts of the capital city.

All samples meet styrene permissible level, according to result of the Institute of Environmental Technology under Việt Nam Academy of Science and Technology.

The samples were taken from households using tap water supplied in a number of wards in Thanh Xuân, Hoàng Mai, Cầu Giấy, Nam Từ Liêm and Hoài Đức districts.

The health department said it would continue to order Hà Nội’s Disease Control Centre to work with the Institute of Environmental Technology and the National Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health to test tap water quality.

Tap water of some 700,000 households in Nam Từ Liêm, Bắc Từ Liêm, Thanh Xuân, Hoàng Mai, Hà Đông and Thanh Trì districts were found to have a strange, irritating smell like melted plastic or oil on October 9.

After cleaning water tanks and pipes, the Việt Nam Clean Water Investment and Construction Corporation confirmed that water had been supplied back to residents. — VNS