Finding fundamental solutions to protect the environment at Vinh Tan Power Center

On the afternoon of September 16, the Supervisory Delegation led by Comrade Le Quang Huy, Member of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, had a working session with the People's Committee of Lam Dong province.

The meeting aimed to check the implementation of policies and laws on environmental protection at Vinh Tan Power Center, Vinh Hao commune.

Comrade Le Quang Huy, member of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, spoke at the supervision session.

Attending the meeting were: Vice Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Ta Dinh Thi; Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Le Cong Thanh; representatives of relevant ministries, branches and Vietnam Electricity Group.

Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Trong Yen reported at the working session

On the provincial side, the event was attended by comrades: Le Trong Yen, member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee; Nguyen Huu Thong, member of the Provincial Party Committee, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Lam Dong Province, and representatives of relevant departments and branches.

According to the report of Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee, in recent years, the monitoring and supervision of environmental protection (EP) for Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) at Vinh Tan Power Center has always been of interest and direction to the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial People's Committee. Working Group 218 (established by the former Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee) has maintained and intensified monitoring during the Northeast monsoon season, holidays and Tet.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment also established a Team to monitor environmental protection activities of thermal power plants on an annual basis.

Comrade Nguyen Huu Thong, Provincial Party Committee member, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Lam Dong province, spoke at the supervision session.

Monitoring results show that the power plants have made efforts and implemented legal regulations on environmental protection during their operations; maintained the operation of waste treatment facilities; and enhanced additional solutions to minimize dust emissions to the surrounding environment.

However, there is still an annual occurrence of dust and coal dust (black dust) spreading into the houses of households living near the Vinh Tan Industrial Zone border area. Especially during the Northeast monsoon season, the area often has strong gusts and whirlwinds. Local voters often make recommendations and reflect on this issue.

Representatives of the Department of Agriculture and Environment reported at the meeting.

In order to strengthen the implementation of environmental protection work, most recently, the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province (old) issued Official Dispatch No. 1058 requesting the thermal power plants to properly and fully implement the environmental protection requirements in the approved environmental dossier and the provisions of the law on environmental protection. At the same time, urgently complete the investment in covering the entire coal warehouse, preventing dust and coal dust from spreading to the surrounding environment...

However, local voters reported that Vinh Tan Power Plant regularly releases black dust, acrid smell, and noise when the Northeast wind blows to households living near the factory area. At the same time, they recommended that the Provincial People's Committee soon find a solution to relocate households living near the area bordering Vinh Tan 4 Power Plant and Vinh Tan 4 Expansion Power Plant in Vinh Phuc village, Vinh Hao commune to new places. Thereby, helping to ensure people have a better living environment and maintain their long-term health.

Representative of the Department of Industry and Trade leadership reported at the working session

Scene of the working session on the afternoon of September 16

At the meeting, delegates focused on discussing the difficulties and obstacles in environmental protection work at Vinh Tan Industrial Zone. Faced with the situation of black dust, burning smell and noise constantly emitting, delegates said that there should be fundamental solutions to ensure a living environment for the people.

According to Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee, in case of resettlement for all 402 households, the land fund is expected to be arranged in Tu Bi Cave area, Vinh Hao commune (about 3.2 km from Vinh Tan 4 Thermal Power Plant expansion). The preliminary estimate of the total cost of compensation, site clearance for 402 households and resettlement arrangement for new residence, dredging of shipping channels, boats... is about 803 billion VND.

Comrade Nguyen Anh Tuan, General Director of Vietnam Electricity Group reported at the working session.

In addition, delegates highly agreed with the proposal of Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee to request the Government to soon direct the Ministry of Industry and Trade to study and adjust the planning of Vinh Tan Industrial Zone; consider the plan to relocate people.

Many opinions also suggested that EVN urgently install more automatic environmental monitoring stations in residential areas. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment should coordinate with localities to strengthen supervision and strictly handle violations to ensure legitimate rights and long-term stability of life for the people.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Le Cong Thanh speaks at the monitoring session.

Vice Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Ta Dinh Thi speaks

Concluding the supervision session, comrade Le Quang Huy, member of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, acknowledged and highly appreciated the serious preparation of the working contents with the delegation of Vinh Tan Power Center and Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee.

The Supervisory Delegation highly appreciated the outstanding results achieved in environmental protection work in recent times. In particular, dust and noise have been basically controlled. Factories have applied many measures to prevent ash and dust such as: Investing in coal warehouse roofs, installing misting systems, operating exhaust gas and wastewater treatment systems.

In addition, the management and consumption of ash and slag have made many efforts and achieved positive results. Some enterprises have proactively invested in infrastructure and processing equipment, contributing to both promoting economic efficiency and participating in social security activities in the locality.

Comrade Le Quang Huy, member of the Party Central Executive Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, delivered a concluding speech at the supervision session.

However, the Monitoring Team also pointed out the shortcomings and limitations that need to be overcome such as: The situation of dust and coal dust released into the environment still occurs, especially during the Northeast monsoon season; some environmental infrastructure projects are still slow to be implemented, not fully meeting standards and regulations; coordination in environmental protection work is not really drastic; the consumption and reuse of ash and slag still face difficulties due to limited output and high costs...

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To solve the fundamental problem, the immediate task is to completely resolve the issue of people's security in Vinh Hao commune. Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee urgently implements the direction of the Government Office, promptly reports the results and recommends specific solutions, especially regarding financial resources for the relocation and resettlement of 402 households in Vinh Phuc village.

Comrade Le Quang Huy, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment

At the same time, Lam Dong province coordinates with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to strengthen the monitoring of the activities of thermal power plants; publicize the monitoring results for people to monitor. Lam Dong province police need to pay attention to promptly reporting to the provincial leaders and competent authorities to have measures to properly handle arising problems.

With Vietnam Electricity Group and investors at Vinh Tan Power Complex, he suggested speeding up investment progress, completing environmental infrastructure items, exhaust gas treatment system, coal warehouse roof, misting system; researching and installing additional automatic and continuous monitoring stations to monitor dust, exhaust gas and noise...

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/tim-giai-phap-can-co-de-bao-ve-moi-truong-tai-trung-tam-dien-luc-vinh-tan-391677.html