Improper disposal of excessive amounts of mud waste from infrastructure and canal-dredging projects have caused severe pollution problems in HCM City, authorities have said.
Tran Thi Cam Van, an official with the municipal Water Drainage Company (WDC), said the city lacked mud-waste treatment plants and that existing sites that collect the material were overburdened.
Mud waste is discharged in many areas of the city, mainly in the suburbs, according to Van.
She said that each day the WDC alone dredged about 3,000 tonnes of mud waste from the city’s canals and ditches, discharging that amount into the environment.
Nguyen Trung Viet, head of the Natural Resources and Environment Department’s Solid Waste Management Board, said in addition to the WDC’s activities, district-level companies involved in public utility services collected about 1,500 tonnes of mud waste during their dredging activities every day.
Most of the mud waste is transported to rural districts, including Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi and Thu Duc as well as District 9, but these localities are not prepared to store or treat this kind of waste.
Van warned that the volume of mud waste would surge because three major infrastructure projects were expected to create about 3 million tonnes of mud waste.
These projects include the East-West Highway, the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Water Environment Improvement and the Suoi Tien-Ben Thanh Metro line.
“Directly discharging mud waste into the environment is a very harmful practice since the waste often contains many toxic substances. Most of the local canals and ditches are heavily polluted,” she said.
A representative of the Municipal Environmental Protection Sub-Department said organic substances, suspended solids, metal substances and microorganisms found in the waste were between two and nine times higher than permissible levels.
“In addition, the disposal of mud waste usually occurs without the use of materials to protect land and underground water sources,” he said.
Van said that sites zoned for containing mud waste dredged from local canals were overloaded.
The city is planning a new area to collect mud waste at the Da Phuoc Waste Treatment Area in Binh Chanh District.
However, even when it opens, it will not be able to meet the city’s demand.
The WDC in the future might not be able to conduct its dredging work since it had nowhere to dispose of mud waste, she added.
Huynh Minh Truc, director of the municipal Urban Environment Company, said mud waste could not be buried because it contained toxic substances.
The city needed more modern technology and equipment to treat mud waste, Truc said.
The city government has annually allocated funds from the State budget to related agencies to dredge local canals and ditches, but no money has been spent to treat mud waste, according to Truc.
