According to Yen My Company, in November 2023, the project was granted Environmental License No. 166/GP-UBND by the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province, agreeing to discharge treated wastewater when it meets the prescribed standards.

Last May, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Thanh Hoa province issued an official dispatch confirming that the project had completed the automatic and continuous environmental monitoring system, ensuring the accuracy and quality of the transmission line reporting monitoring information to the department continuously, with a frequency of 5 minutes/time.

In addition to investing in a wastewater treatment system at the factory, Yen My Company said that the project has built a closed wastewater pipeline system nearly 4km long from the project farm to a point after the main dam of Khe Tre Lake, Yen My commune, in accordance with regulations.

dairy farm

This is also the location approved for discharge according to the above Environmental License No. 166/GP-UBND. After a thorough treatment process through 13 filter tanks in the project area, the project's wastewater has been treated to meet livestock wastewater standards, eligible for discharge into the environment.

"Thus, the company has been certified that its wastewater discharge meets Vietnamese standards and is permitted by competent authorities to discharge wastewater in accordance with legal regulations in licensed areas," Yen My Company affirmed.

Regarding the surface water collection system completely separate from the wastewater treatment system, the Company informed that Decision No. 937 of Nong Cong district dated April 25, 2019 approved the detailed planning project at a scale of 1/500 for the project of raising dairy cows and processing concentrated industrial-scale milk in Yen My commune.

Accordingly, the project has a surface water collection ditch system that is completely separate from the above-mentioned wastewater treatment system. All wastewater and waste generation points (from offices, warehouses, feed centers, milking areas, barns, etc.) are collected through separate lines flowing to the project's wastewater treatment area, completely independent of the surface water collection system (rainwater).

According to the assessment of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Thanh Hoa province, the surface water collection system is a separate, independent system, designed with reinforced concrete with load-bearing capacity. The collection system is designed with manholes to retain soil and rocks carried by rainwater.

dairy farm
Yen My Company announced the diagram of the surface rainwater collection system according to the approved plan.

"In the reporter's report, the water flowing from the project into the environment is surface water (rainwater) collected at the project. The location where the reporter reported and took the image is the confluence of many other water sources (in addition to the Yen My project), including domestic wastewater from upstream residential areas," Yen My Company explained.

Previously, the People's Committee of Nong Cong district sent an official dispatch to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Thanh Hoa stating the results of water sample analysis on June 13, 2024 taken from the farm's surface water collection ditch system after heavy rain (when people reported that the water was black and had a foul odor) to test the water quality for assessment.

The results confirmed that the stormwater overflowing after the farm's collection system did not cause pollution when compared with national technical standards on surface water quality.

Also according to Yen My Company, after receiving feedback from the people, at 3:00 p.m. on October 28, Mr. Nguyen Loi Duc - Secretary of Nong Cong District Party Committee, along with representatives of Nong Cong District, Yen My Commune and the Company directly inspected the scene in Yen My Commune.

At the scene, the inspection team noted that in the drainage ditch area behind the project, people had poured concrete to block the rainwater drainage. The rainwater here accumulated, had a cloudy yellow color of soil and did not have a foul smell as reported.

However, Yen My district leaders asked the company to review its operating procedures to ensure that mistakes are avoided, and recommended that Yen My commune assign people to monitor the blocked sewers during heavy rains to ensure traffic safety.