Toxic Red Mud Spills from Broken Reservoir at Titanium Mine in Central Vietnam

A reservoir storing toxic red mud that is generated in the extraction process of titanium mining in Vietnam’s central province of Binh Thuan got broken in the early hours of June 16, resulting a huge volume of red mud spilling out onto roads and into residential area, state media reported. Due to a large leakage, the strong outflow of mud has dredged a wide cleft on the sandy hill that stretches all the way to the residential area, leaving houses, gardens and fishing ponds to be contaminated. The Tuoi Tre newspaper noted that several kilometers of the coastal line has been covered in red mud. Currently, local authorities are determining the scope of the environmental pollution. The reservoir is part of a titanium mine owned by Tan Quang Cuong – Binh Thuan Investment Joint Stock Company. According to the Tuoi Tre paper, the Vietnamese mining firm was licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) in April 2015 but it is yet to meet the requirements to conduct titanium mining. Several inspections in late 2015 pointed out many violations at Tan Quang Cuong, such as illegal construction of a water pumping station, invalid land use certificate, and unlicensed titanium mining in an area of over 10 hectares. This is the second case of broken red mud reservoir in Ham Thuan Nam district of Binh Thuan province, the last incident took place at Binh Thuan Minerals Investment and Trade JSC in November 2013. The spill damaged the local environment, clogged up nearby streets and residential areas, and caused traffic congestion for several days. The loss caused by the spill was estimated at more than VND5 billion ($235,000). The company was fined VND200 million for the spill. Binh Thuan has a titanium reserve of 560 million tons, accounting for 92% of the country’s titanium reserve, according to the MONRE. While only one million tons have been exploited to date, there have been four cases of broken mud reservoir causing serious environmental pollution. Titanium is a metal used in many industries including the manufacturing of planes and equipment used in oil and gas exploitation. Red mud is a toxic byproduct of the process that refines bauxite, raw aluminum ore, into aluminum oxide, or alumina. (Tuoi Tre June 17 p5, Thanh Nien June 17 p4, Saigon Times June 16)