Ha Tinh does not agree to dump 3 million cubic meters of dredged material into the sea

Mr. Tran Bao Ha, Vice Chairman of Ha Tinh Provincial People's Committee, has just signed a document responding to the petition of Vung Ang II Thermal Power Company Limited (VAPCO) regarding dredged materials of Vung Ang II Thermal Power Plant.

Accordingly, the People's Committee of this province does not agree with the plan to sink dredged materials in the sea as proposed by VAPCO, but must implement dredging construction measures and utilize landfill materials according to the plan approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Document of Ha Tinh Provincial People's Committee

Ha Tinh also requested VAPCO to focus on mobilizing resources to urgently accelerate the project implementation progress according to the set plan. In case the project is delayed due to VAPCO repeatedly changing the implementation plan for related contents, this enterprise must be responsible to the Government, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Provincial People's Committee and related agencies and units according to the provisions of law and the signed contents.

In addition, the Provincial People's Committee assigned relevant units, localities, departments and branches to regularly monitor, inspect, supervise, direct and guide VAPCO to comply with regulations.

"Relevant units and localities must be responsible before the law and the Provincial People's Committee if they are lax in management, allowing violations to occur, consequences affecting the environment, security and order, and other violations at the project," the document reads.

According to the report of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Ha Tinh, the Vung Ang II Thermal Power Plant project was approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for its EIA report in Decision No. 3055 dated October 8, 2018, and assigned a sea area of ​​60.27 hectares in Decision No. 691 dated March 23, 2023 for the construction and operation of approach bridges, wharves, water areas in front of bridges, ports and ship turning areas, cooling water intake pipeline systems, and cooling water discharge pipeline systems.

During the project implementation process, VAPCO requested to adjust the plan for dumping dredged materials from dumping at sea to recovering the entire volume of dredged materials for use as filling materials.

This change in the dredged material dumping plan has been approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to adjust the EIA report in Decision No. 132 dated January 15, 2020 and agreed to adjust the construction plan in Document No. 3923 dated July 15, 2021.

Image of dredged waste (Photo: VAPCO)

In the past, VAPCO has dumped 248,900m3 of dredged material ashore at approved locations. However, recently, VAPCO has continued to submit a document requesting approval to dump dredged material from the Vung Ang II Thermal Power Plant project at sea. VAPCO's estimated volume of dumping at sea is from 2,200,973m3 to 2,593,973m3 depending on actual construction conditions. The above-mentioned dredging volume is in the dredging items of the intake area, discharge area, turning basin and shipping channel.

In Document No. 645 dated January 22, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also commented on the content of VAPCO continuing to request adjustments to the sinking plan. According to the document of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the location of this sea area was affected by the marine environmental incident in 2016. Dredging and sinking activities can disperse objects and substances accumulated in sediments, pollute the surrounding marine environment, degrade biodiversity, and reduce aquatic resources. Around the sea area where VAPCO requested a license to sink dredged objects and substances, there are also a number of local households engaged in small-scale, coastal fishing. Therefore, the implementation of the dredging and sinking project must be extremely careful to avoid negative impacts and influences on the marine environment, biodiversity, and aquatic resources in this area.

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/ha-tinh-khong-dong-y-nhan-chim-3-trieu-m3-chat-nao-vet-xuong-bien-a648423.html