Vietnam Says Seawater in Central Region Safe, Yet to Affirm Fish Edible

The Vietnamese government announced at a conference with the participation of domestic and foreign scientists, universities scholars, and state officials that the water in sea off coastline in four central provinces is now safe after Taiwan-invested Formosa Hung Nghiep Ha Tinh Steel Corporation poisoned the sea some months ago. Tran Hong Ha, minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said at the event that except for three certain areas, the sea in four affecting provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue are safe for swimming and aquaculture. The statement was made at the conference held in Quang Tri’s Dong Ha city on Aug 22, four months after Vietnam found Formosa to discharge untreated toxic waste into the sea, causing massive fish death. The newswire VnExpresss.net quoted Professor Mai Trong Nhuan, who headed a team of Vietnamese and foreign scientists commissioned by the government to study the impact of the disaster, as saying at the conference that the chemicals, including cyanide and carbolic acids, are becoming more dilute. Nhuan said the marine ecosystem, including coral reefs, sea grasses and other marine resources that were seriously damaged, has begun to recover. However, state senior officials said it needs to wait for researches conducted by the Ministry of Health to know if fish in the sea is safe for human beings. Associate Prof. Nguyen Van Hop from Hue University of Science said that state agencies have not verified some important issues, including how Formosa treat wastewater before the environmental incident, how much phenol and cyanide it released into the environment, and which part is responsible for the discharge. He claimed that the state officials have not given specific results of the safety but only general figures. Doctor Chu Hoi said that the announcement needs to focus on the most important questions on if the water is safe to swim, where to swim and do fishing, and if fish is safe to eat. The scientists warned that the government needs to keep a close watch on the waste discharge of Formosa. The Formosa-caused environmental disaster harmed the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people, including 41,000 fishermen, according to a government report at a meeting of the National Assembly in July. The Taiwanese company, which is running a $10.6-billion steel complex in Ha Tinh including a steel plant, a power plant, and a deep seaport, in July admitted to poison the sea and compensate an amount of VND11 trillion ($500 million) to cover short-term consequences. However, people familiar with the issue say the sum neither compensates all victims nor sends a strict enough warning to other foreign-invested enterprises in the country. The country’s worst environmental disaster has devastated the fishing and tourism industries in the region. The Vietnam Television (VTV), the country’s central station, broadcast a number of reportages in which local people are tired of waiting for better environment, pinning their hopes on better situation when they can go fishing at sea for living. A number of lodging stations and high-end resorts are left idle without visitors, pushing dozens of companies into bankruptcy and thousands of people into misery. (VnExpress.net Aug 22, Lao Dong – Labor Aug 22, Congan.com.vn Aug 23)