A major wastewater treatment plant located in an industrial park in southern Dong Nai Province has been found discharging untreated waste water into the Dong Nai River via an underground pipeline system.
The Environmental Police Department (C49) said the Sonadezi company on Thursday discharged 9,300 cubic metres of untreated wastewater into the river via three underground pipelines.
In the early morning hours, the C49 team observed the plant’s wastewater treatment system centre and discovered that the system was out of order and the untreated wastewater was being discharged into the river.
Senior Lieutenant Colonel Cu Nam Tien, deputy manager II of C49, said Sonadezi was responsible for treating wastewater for 42 companies in Long Thanh Industrial Park.
The water from the companies is first stored in a reservoir with a volume of 35,000 cubic metres.
Police said the company’s reservoir was connected to three underground pipelines, each was 600 metres long and 30 centimetres in diametre, and about two to three metres underground.
The untreated wastewater flowed from the reservoir through the pipelines to the Ba Cheo Canal and then into the Dong Nai River.
According to C49, during the last five years, Sonadezi has discharged 14 million cubic metres of untreated wastewater into the Dong Nai River, causing serious water pollution.
On the day of the C49 inspection, the managers and representatives of Sonadezi signed a document in which they acknowledged that they were violating the law, the police investigative unit said.
C49 is continuing its investigation into the case.
In another major water-pollution case, Vedan Viet Nam in 2008 was caught and later heavily fined for discharging untreated wastewater into Thi Vai River in southern Dong Nai province, causing serious pollution and financial losses to thousands of fishing households in Dong Nai and Ba Ria – Vung Tau provinces and HCM City.
Many fishermen and farmers received compensation from Vedan after filing lawsuits against the company. The case was finally settled in the courts.
