Taiwanese deny pollution killing fish in Vietnam; Diver dies.

[harrybarracuda]

Unbelievable goings on in Vietnam, and it seems they don't really give a shit.

A Taiwanese steel company on Monday refused to take responsibility for an environmental disaster in central Vietnam that has resulted in mass fish deaths and raised questions about the country's capacities to detect and handle large scale pollution.
Chu Xuan Pham, chief of the Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company (FHS)’s representative office in Hanoi, even made shocking statements after fielding questions from reporters.
The reporters asked him if Formosa had installed a sewage pipe under the sea to discharge wastewater directly into the sea near the Vung Ang Economic Zone in Ha Tinh Province, where a huge number of fish have died recently.
Pham said: “I admit that the discharge of wastewater will affect the environment to some extent, and it is obvious that the sea will have less fish.
“But before we built the plant, we had got the permission from the Vietnamese government.
“To be honest, we must lose some to win some. You want the fish, or the steel plant? You have to choose.
“If you want both, I will tell you that you can’t, even if you are the prime minister.”
Over the last two weeks a large number of fish have washed ashore in Ha Tinh and several neighboring provinces like Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, apparently killed by industrial effluents.
Suspicion has centered on Formosa, a major firm in the Vung Ang Economic Zone. The company admitted that it has a large sewage pipe going straight into the sea, but claimed repeatedly that the discharged wastewater has been treated.
On Monday, the agriculture ministry said initial tests showed the fish had not died from diseases. The substance killing them could be biological, chemical or toxic substances like cyanide. Further tests are being conducted.
It also said no more unusual fish deaths were reported on Monday.
The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) also denied claims that some earthquakes that hit Japan’s Kumamoto City on April 14 and 16 had affected the Vietnamese coast, causing the fish deaths.
Analysis results of images taken by VNRED Sat-1 satellite and other satellites also showed no major oil spills in the affected area over the last month, it said.
Seismic stations located in Nghe An, Quang Binh and Thua Thien-Hue provinces managed by VAST did not record any earthquake that registers more than 5.0 on the Richter scale offshore the central coast.
It means the possibility that fish deaths were caused by thermal shock was also ruled out, according to VAST.
'Formosa and authorities ignored us'
Residents in Ha Tinh Province’s Ky Anh District, where the Formosa plant is based in, told Thanh Nien they were not consulted when Formosa installed the sewage pipe as well as during the process of environmental impact assessment.
Meanwhile, Formosa said it had collected the opinions of local people affected by the project and local authorities before submitting the environmental impact report.
Chu Van Thanh, a 46-year-old resident, said his family and other households were relocated for the construction in 2011. Many of them now live near the project, but they were never informed of any environmental impacts.

Chu Xuan Pham (R), chief of the FHS's rep office in Hanoi, at a meeting with Thanh Nien newspaper on April 25, 2016. Photo: Nguyen Dung
Nguyen Van Hau, 55, said he was shocked to know that Formosa has a secret sewage pipe under the sea near where he lived.
“If they asked for our opinions, we would have said no. Formosa and authorities ignored us,” he said.
Around 1,000 hectares of land were claimed and 1,500 households were relocated for the Formosa plant project.
On April 4, a Ha Tinh fisherman reported to local authorities that he saw a large sewage pipe discharging wastewater into the sea in Vung Ang. The pipe was lying around 13 meters under the surface and around 1.5 kilometers from the Vung Ang Economic Zone, he said.
A spokesperson from Formosa later admitted that the pipe belongs to the company, and that it discharges 12,000 liters of wastewater a day through the pipe. He said the wastewater had already been treated before being discharged.
On Monday, Hoang Dat Thuyen, director of Formosa’s environment safety department, admitted that the company had for several years imported a large amount of chemicals to clean the pipe, but the diluted and treated substances were then discharged into the sea without the Vietnamese authorities’ permission.
“We did not see any regulation saying that we must seek authorities’ permission when cleaning the pipe,” he said.
He said Formosa had invested up to US$45 million to build the wastewater treatment system.

Taiwanese firm exec makes shocking remarks over Vietnam's environmental disaster | Society | Thanh Nien Daily

A diver from central Vietnam died a day after working at a port of a Taiwanese steel firm which has been accused of polluting waters and causing mass fish deaths in recent weeks.
Le Van Ngay, 46, died on the way to hospital on Sunday after suffering chest pains and breathing difficulties, local media reported.
Medical examiners have performed an autopsy. The body has been returned to the family but local media said the results have not been announced.
His coworkers at the International Manpower and Construction JSC (Nibelc), a contractor of the steel firm Formosa in Ha Tinh Province, said he dived down a port of the company on Saturday for construction work at an embankment project.
There has been serious concern about the sea water in Ha Tinh after a large number of fish have washed ashore over the last two weeks, apparently killed by industrial effluents. The same situation has been going on in nearby provinces Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue.
Suspicion has centered on Formosa, a major company in the Vung Ang Economic Zone. The firm, officially known as Hung Nghiep Formosa Steel Company (FHS), admitted that it has a large sewage pipe going straight into the sea, but claimed repeatedly that the discharged wastewater has been treated.
Ngay’s colleagues, who have been working for years, said they have not felt well after swimming in the sea recently.
Nguyen Thieu, 36, told Tuoi Tre newsaper he has been working for three years but only noticed unusual health conditions in recent week.
“I have been unusually tired, with chest pain and dizzy after every swim.”
Thieu said the tone of his skin has also changed.
He said his colleagues told him they have had the same experience.
A representative from Nibelc told news website VietNamNet that a lot of workers at the company are worried about water pollution affecting their health.
“But any feeling about health impacts might just be a psychological thing. We do not know the cause for sure yet.”

Mysterious death of diver adds to ongoing environmental crisis in central Vietnam | Society | Thanh Nien Daily

[misskit]

Vietnamese authorities are investigating a Taiwanese steel company in connection with a massive fish kill that is threatening the local seafood industry, according to media reports.

Huge numbers of fish have washed ashore in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces. The dead fish that have been washing up on beaches along the country's central coast include rare species that live far offshore in deep water.

The kill-off is apparently caused by industrial effluent, and state-run media coverage says the government is focusing on a mile-long waste water pipeline that runs from a multi-million-dollar steel plant in Ha Tinh owned by Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa.

“The mass fish deaths are due to serious pollution,” Vien a retired history teacher in Ky Anh district of Ha Tinh province told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. “There was no pollution before…. Everything is ruined now. The peace in this countryside has been disrupted.”

A fisherman named Sot from Hai Lang in Quang Tri province told RFA that local leaders were telling their people to avoid eating fish, and that even the fisherman worried about the catch.

“The fish were washed onshore, but the government has not found the cause,” he said. “The village chairman told us not to eat fish because it is dangerous. We can’t go fishing because we can’t sell fish anymore. Even if we can sell it we don’t want to because it is wrong.”

A tour bus operator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the growing fear of seafood to RFA.

“Because of the fish deaths, people don’t want to eat fish, and the fishermen don’t go fishing anymore,” he said.

The fish kill puts Vietnam’s traditional fishing industry in conflict with the country’s push to become an industrial power. Last year, the country earned $6.6 billion from seafood exports. In 2012 Vietnam earned an estimated $5 billion from steel exports.

Central Ha Tinh province is home to a sprawling economic zone which houses numerous industrial plants, including a multi-billion dollar steel plant run by Formosa.

A company official this week said local communities need to consider whether they value marine life or foreign investment in the area more, AFP reported.

"You cannot have both," Chou Chun Fan, Formosa Ha Tinh's external relations manager told state-run VTC14 television channel, speaking in Vietnamese, according to the AFP report.

"(You) need to choose whether to catch fish and shrimp or to build a state-of-the-art steel mill," he said, according to a video of the interview posted online.

The report also said that Formosa had imported some 300 tons of toxic chemicals to clean the waste-water pipeline, a shipment the Vietnam Environment Administration said it was not informed of. The report did not say whether the chemicals had been used.

Tuoitnews reported that the company was notified that the Ministry of Industry and Trade will inspect the plant on Tuesday.

Vietnamese Look at Steel Company as Officials Search For Fish Kill Cause

[misskit]

Algae and Toxins, Not Steel Mill Waste, Blamed for Vietnamese Fish Kill

Vietnamese authorities failed to find evidence that links a huge steel plant with a massive fish kill, but they have yet to identify a cause for the catastrophe, the nation’s deputy environment minister said on Wednesday.

“Up until now, our investigation and evidence collection has not yet found any evidence to conclude there is an association between Formosa and the other plants in Vung Ang and the mass fish deaths,” said Natural Resources and Environment Deputy Minister Vo Tuan Nhan.

“Based on data collected and analyzed by science and government agencies, we have not found any environmental data that exceeds the acceptable standards,” he added.

Huge numbers of fish have washed ashore in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces along the central coast of Vietnam. The dead fish washing up on beaches along the country's central coast include rare species that live far offshore in deep water.

Initially, the kill-off was thought to be caused by industrial effluent that came from a mile-long waste water pipeline that runs from a multi-million-dollar steel plant the Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics Corporation operates in the Vung Ang Industrial Zone.

Nahn’s remarks came after a meeting with representatives of seven ministries, the four affected provinces and scientists. Nhan took no questions from the media.

Red tide or toxins

While authorities have yet to discover a cause, Nanh said the main suspected culprits are a red tide and toxins generated by people.

“There are two main reasons that may have led to the mass fish deaths,” Nhan said. “The first is due to the effects of a chemical toxin generated by people on land or sea, and the second is due to an unusual environmental phenomenon combined with peoples’ influence that causes a red tide.”

Red tides are naturally occurring, but there is evidence that they are on the rise as they are being fueled by global warming and runoff from fertilizers and other phosphates.

Scientists call the red tide harmful algae bloom because not all of them are red and don’t depend on the tide. The algae linked to red tides contain a toxin that affects the nervous and digestive systems of animals. In the Pacific the Alexandrium catenella algae is the most common cause of harmful algae blooms.

He didn’t detail what toxins might have caused the fish to die.

“This is a very complicated disaster that has happened in many places in the world, and we need time to find out the cause in a scientific manner,” he said. “There are cases in other countries that are similar to what happened here, and they took many years to find the cause.”

National anxiety

The fish kill comes as anxiety among Vietnamese over China’s influence is rising. While the Formosa plant is Taiwanese, many Vietnamese do not draw a clear distinction between Taiwan and mainland China.

The fish kill comes as Beijing’s push to claim nearly all of the South China Sea has stirred a nationalistic backlash in Vietnam.

China is Vietnam’s largest trade partner and Vietnam’s annual trade deficit with China is nearly $24 billion, the Economist reported. Factories in Vietnam—many owned by multinational firms—depend on Chinese inputs and Chinese companies likely hold a vast share of Vietnam’s engineering and procurement contracts for infrastructure and industrial projects.

When Beijing moved an oil drilling platform into a disputed part of the South China Sea, riots that killed one Chinese and injured 90 broke out at the site of the Formosa plant.

Vietnamese activists called for protests on May 1, telling reporters in a conference call on Wednesday that more than 90 percent of the industrial projects in Vietnam in recent years are operated by the Chinese or depend on investment from China.

The activists are demanding that the politburo and the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam prosecute Formosa, review all Chinese projects in Vietnam and send all Chinese workers home.

“All Chinese projects in Vietnam are bad,” said one activist. “Chinese workers took our jobs; built their villages on our land; invaded our country. They intend to harm our country, but the politburo and the communist party still listen to them and subjugate Vietnam to their demands.”

Algae and Toxins, Not Steel Mill Waste, Blamed for Vietnamese Fish Kill

[misskit]

Vietnam Police Stop Protests Over Massive Fish Deaths

Police in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi broke a weekend protest by dozens of young people who were trying to highlight what they said was a slow, irresponsible government response to a mass kill-off of fish.

Sunday’s aborted protests were inspired by the washing ashore in April of tens of thousands of fish along the central coast of Vietnam. Government experts have variously cited "red tide” or other factors, but many Vietnamese blame a huge steel plant run by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation, a subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Corporation of Taiwan.

“Thirty youths went to the center of Hanoi for the rally but they could not gather at the Grand Theater or the fountain,” blogger Nguyen Xuan Dien told RFA’s Vietnamese Service by telephone from Hanoi.

“They somehow managed to gather together and walked without chanting,” he added.

“They were all forced into a vehicle and taken to Long Bien district police station where they keep protesters,” said Dien.

The Associated Press quoted a protester as saying the group members were held for several hours and then released without charge.

Dien echoed widespread complaints about the government’s handling of the mass fish deaths, which have decimated fishing and tourism in the Southeast Asian country.

“It’s been 60 days since the mass fish deaths in the central region but they have not announced the result. Many issues have pointed to their irresponsibility towards the people, the environment and the country’s natural resources,” he told RFA.

Facebook blocked

A second blogger, Ho Chi Minh City-based Pham Thanh Nghien, said many more youths had tried to rally in that southern city, formerly known as Saigon.

“I had a phone call from a protester in Saigon telling me that they use barbed wire in the center of the city where there was supposed to be a peaceful protest,” he said.

“Many small groups of people went ahead with their protest plan but they could not gather together. My friend told me the largest group had 100 people. They were stopped after a short walk,” Nghien told RFA.

He added that Facebook was blocked by the government.

“The government always blocks social media whenever there are legitimate demands or pressure from people. In this case it is about transparency and accountability in environment issues,” Nghien said.

AP reported that Vietnamese state media said last week that scientists from Vietnam and abroad have reached a conclusion about the cause of the fish deaths, but will not announce it until after consulting with experts.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, issued a statement calling it “appalling that the authorities cracked down and detained peaceful protesters in Hanoi and elsewhere instead of providing even the most basic answers about the massive fish kills.”

“The Vietnam government should be leading the investigation into what caused these fish kills, not suppressing people’s efforts to demand answers and accountability,” he said on Sunday.

Vietnam Police Stop Protests Over Massive Fish Deaths

[misskit]

Vietnamese Fishermen Face Growing Hardship Over Contaminated Fish



While Vietnamese officials have yet to publicly announce what killed tens of thousands of fish in waters along the country's central coastal provinces in April, residents of the affected areas are complaining about the financial hardship they now face with job losses and lack of income.

Fishermen from the central region said they have not been able to fish offshore for several weeks, while local merchants complained that they have not yet received promised support from the government.

One fisherman’s wife from Vung Ang in Ha Tinh province told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that that her husband had to go to Taiwan to work, while she remained behind to try to find a job to help feed their two children.

“We have no money,” said the woman who declined to give her name. “My husband and I have to live separately to make money for our children. We have been living off the sea, and now we have no sea to rely on, so we have to find other jobs to do.”

The government has provided each family affected by the environmental disaster with 22 kilograms (49 pounds) of rice, but still has not informed them of the cause of the fish deaths, she said.

Government experts have variously cited "red tide” or other factors, but many Vietnamese blame sewage-pipe runoff from a huge steel plant run by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation, a subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Corporation of Taiwan, for poisoning the fish.

The company has said it treated the wastewater it had discharged, according to a May report by Vietnam's Thanh Nien News.

‘Dare not go out to sea’

A man who works as a diver in Vung Ang, told RFA that he has not had any work since the dead fish washed ashore and rarely travels far away for jobs.

“Now with the mass fish deaths and contaminated sea, I dare not go out to sea,” he said. We live off the sea and now we have no work. Our lives have become very difficult because we have no work.”

Another fisherman who does diving jobs and declined to be named told RFA that the water along the coastal area is very contaminated, and no one can work.

“The release of the wastewater [from the plant] has contaminated the water as far as five to seven nautical miles out,” he said, adding that he has had to go as far as 100 kilometers (62 miles) from shore to be able to harvest clams, but still doesn’t make much money when he sells them.

“I made about 20 million dong (U.S. $891) after two months at sea,” he said. “It was just about enough to feed my family. It’s nothing compared to what I used to make.”

The government will help

After the tons of dead fish washed ashore in April, the government announced a plan to provide each family affected by the disaster with 22 kilograms of rice per month.

It also said it would pay 5 million dong (U.S. $223) to each family that had to move its boat ashore on account of the contaminated waters.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade in late April set up a hotline for fishermen to call and discuss their situations so the government could help them by buying their catches that no one else wanted.

When RFA called the hotline on Monday, Vice Minister Do Thang Hai, who is handling the calls said to visit the ministry’s website for further information. The website quotes Hai as saying that the hotline received many calls between April 30 and May 7, but now people have stopped phoning.

A recent report by state media told the story of a man from Cua Tung town in Quang Tri province who had purchased 30 tons of frozen mackerel that contained excessive levels of phenol, also known as carbolic acid.

The man who bought the fish said he was surprised to find out about the high level of phenol contamination because provincial authorities had issued him a food safety certificate at the time of purchase.

He said he had bought the fish for 750 million dong (U.S. $33,400) 15 days after the disaster occurred and currently has another 110 tons of fish worth of 2.7 billion dong (U.S. $120,300)—both of which he will declare as losses.

After the media report was published, the provincial director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said the certificate it issued was not a guarantee that the fish were safe to consume.

100 tons of fish

At least 100 tons of dead fish washed ashore in central Vietnam beginning in early April, with some apparently killed by heavy-metal poisoning, Thanh Nien News reported.

The fish, which washed ashore in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue provinces, were apparently killed by industrial effluents, the report said.

Late last week, the information minister told the media that the government will announce the cause of the mass fish death sometime this month.

In addition, Vietnamese state media recently quoted the National Assembly secretary general’s office as saying that the government is preparing report about the mass fish kill to present to lawmakers at the first meeting of the new parliament in July.

More than a week ago, dozens of young people protested in Hanoi to highlight what they said was a slow and irresponsible government response to the disaster.

Officials have said they have not been able to detect any link between the Formosa plant’s discharge and the disaster, the Thanh Nien News report said.

Vietnamese Fishermen Face Growing Hardship Over Contaminated Fish

[misskit]

Vietnamese-Americans Urge U.S. to Step Up Inspections of Fish Imports From Vietnam

While the Vietnam government drags it feet on addressing an environmental disaster in which tens of thousands of dead fish washed ashore in the country’s central coastal provinces, other actors are taking steps to limit the damage.

At least 100 tons of dead fish began washing ashore in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue provinces in early April apparently killed by industrial effluents.

The cause of the catastrophe remains unknown, although it is widely believed that sewage-pipe runoff from a huge steel plant run by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation, a subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Corporation of Taiwan, poisoned the fish.

The company has denied responsibility.

A group of Vietnamese-American activists in California has now sent a petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), urging it to thoroughly test and inspect all seafood and fish products imported from Vietnam.

Do Thanh Cong, a rights activist who signed the petition, also sent letters to Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), and to congressmen in California.

“We have to understand that HHS is the main agency [dealing with this matter], while the FDA is just an auxiliary,” Cong told RFA’s Vietnamese Service, adding that the group has also launched an online petition.

So far, the group has received responses from the FDA, which said it is looking into the matter, and Burwell’s office.

When asked about the financial consequences that Vietnamese fishermen will face if they cannot export fish to the U.S., Cong pointed out that Vietnamese are still buying and exporting fish and other marine products, even though they have been poisoned.

“So who is the victim here?” he said. “The direct victims are people inside the country, and we are the indirect victims—millions of overseas Vietnamese who consume such products.’

‘Products that will harm us’

Fishermen from Vietnam’s central region have not been able to fish offshore for several weeks, and local merchants complain that they have not yet received promised support from the government. Security forces have also arrested Vietnamese activists who staged public protests, including one in Hanoi.

The government has provided each family affected by the environmental disaster with 22 kilograms (49 pounds) of rice, but still has not informed them of the cause of the fish deaths.

“Knowing about the problem, can we still let Hanoi export contaminated products that will harm us?” Cong said. “We have to take care of our health first, and then address the problems that fishermen over there are facing.”

But Dang Kim Son, the former director-general of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development under Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, told RFA that the situation isn’t that serious.

“If we [stop fish exports from Vietnam], the first victims will be our own fishermen, especially those who have invested a lot in long trips faraway by sea,” he said. “In fact, the pollution has not spread any farther than the currents near the coast.”

Taiwan’s lawmakers call for action

The Vietnamese government has remained tight-lipped about incident, saying only that it will announce the cause of the mass fish kill sometime this month and is preparing a report to submit to lawmakers when they meet in July.

But Taiwanese lawmakers urged the government on Thursday to investigate Formosa's possible role in the environmental disaster, Agence-France Presse reported.

They fear the incident could jeopardize new President Tsai Ing-wen’s Southbound Policy, which promotes business and investment ties in Southeast Asia to wean Taiwan off its economic reliance on China, the report said.

Formosa has been involved in other pollution incidents in its home country, in the U.S., and in Cambodia.

Taiwan has offered to help the Vietnamese government investigate the incident, but the communist nation refused, the AFP report said.

On Wednesday, Formosa postponed the June 25 operational start date for a furnace at its steel complex in the Vung Ang Economic Zone in Ha Tinh province, with no future date set, according to Taiwan’s official Central News Agency.

The delay came after Taiwanese media reported that Vietnamese authorities have demanded that Formosa pay U.S. $70 million it owes in taxes. The media also reported that Vietnamese authorities needed more time to process an application the company had submitted to begin production at the steel mill.

Vietnamese-Americans Urge U.S. to Step Up Inspections of Fish Imports From Vietnam

[Kurgen]

“I admit that the discharge of wastewater will affect the environment to some extent, and it is obvious that the sea will have less fish.
“But before we built the plant, we had got the permission from the Vietnamese government.
“To be honest, we must lose some to win some. You want the fish, or the steel plant? You have to choose.
“If you want both, I will tell you that you can’t, even if you are the prime minister.”

Faarrrrrrk!

[PeeCoffee]

Thank you Miss Kit for keeping this updated. Two months and we're still awaiting VN authorities "findings".
Algae blooms , toxins...still waiting. The first sentence of Harry's OP may have foretold this story.

[misskit]

Formosa Steel Owns Up to Toxic Spill, Agrees to Pay Vietnam $500 Million

The owners of Taiwan’s Formosa Ha Tin steel mill on Thursday admitted that toxic chemicals discharged from their massive industrial plant in the Vung Ang Economic Zone caused one of largest environmental disasters in Vietnam’s history and offered $500 million in compensation.

A Vietnamese government investigation into the April spill determined that the release of toxic chemicals including cyanide from the plant caused the fish kill and the company, a subsidiary of the Formosa Plastics Group, apologized for the spill.

“We take responsibility,” Formosa Ha Tinh chairman Chen Yuan-Cheng said in a video played at the press briefing Thursday. “We sincerely apologize to the people of Vietnam, particularly people from four central provinces, including Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue.”

In addition to the apology, Chen said the company plans to make up for the damage it caused to the environment and the fishermen.

“We pledge to make compensation for the economic damage caused to the people and to treat contamination and restore the natural conditions in the four provinces,” he said.

The spill caused as estimated 70 tons of dead fish to wash up on the shores of Vietnam’s central coast starting in early April. An untold number of people were sickened when they ate the fish, and the disaster sparked rare protests across Vietnam, creating a crisis for the government.

Thursday’s long awaited announcement confirmed what activists and many ordinary Vietnamese had long believed. Critics noted, however, that the company and government officials failed to address the question of how government officials signed off on Formosa’s skirting of rules and standards

An about face

Formosa’s admission marks a sharp turn-around for the Taiwanese firm as it initially denied that it was responsible for the fish kill, citing the $45 million it spent upgrading waste-water treatment at the plant.

“All wastewater generated from the factory is processed properly,” the company wrote in an April letter to news media. “It is tested in accordance with Vietnam’s standards before being released to protect the marine ecology and at the same time to ensure Formosa’s adaptation with the area and that our development is on par with the development of the local area.

Vietnam’s head of the Government Office, Mai Tien Dung, told the news conference on Thursday that Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp. will pay $500 million to compensate the affected people, clean up the environment and help fishermen find new jobs.

“Violations and accidents that happened in the process of the trial operation of Formosa Ha Tinh plant are the reason for the serious ocean pollution that caused mass fish deaths in four central provinces from Ha Tinh to Thua Thien Hue in April,” he said.

The plant’s scheduled opening on June 25 was delayed. No new date has been announced.

The government said the factory mixed up a toxic cocktail when it dumped phenols, iron hydroxide and cyanide into the sea. Hanoi is still monitoring water quality offshore and has not declared the water safe for fishing within 20 nautical miles of the coast.

While Hanoi’s investigation laid the blame for the spill on Formosa, it also marked a turn-around for the government as it initially placed the blame on a red tide in a statement that prompted widespread derision and mistrust.

“There are two main reasons that may have led to the mass fish deaths,” Natural Resources and Environment Deputy Minister Vo Tuan Nhan said at an April news conference. “The first is due to the effects of a chemical toxin generated by people on land or sea, and the second is due to an unusual environmental phenomenon combined with peoples’ influence that causes a red tide.”

The disaster sparked rare protests across Vietnam as people took to the streets to demonstrate against the government and Formosa. Authorities often broke up the protests and arrested at least 500 people.

Not enough

While government officials placed the blame on Formosa, some outside experts criticized the size of the settlement.

“All things considered, $500 million is not enough,” said Le Huy Ba, the former director of the Institute for Environment, Science, Technology and Management, at the Institute of Industry in Ho Chi Minh City.

“They have to compensate for millions of people who live along the coast, offering them help in life for a long time, not just two or three months,” he added. “Besides, they have to pay for environmental damages. To me, $500 million is nothing.”

Nguyen Quang A, the former director of the Institute of Development Studies, agreed.

“I think the $500 million is just a small part at the beginning,” he said. “I support that there should be a legal action to assess all damages and demand Formosa compensate people who live along the affected coast.”

Prominent blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh remained critical of the government, saying the disaster was compounded by Hanoi’s complicity with the steel company.

“They repressed people and detained environmental protesters,” he told RFA. “Everything just tells us the truth behind this, so even though the government announced the cause of the mass fish deaths and solutions, I think it is just an action amid the public pressure. I don’t have much hope in the announcement.”

Nguyen Quang A told RFA he hopes the disaster sends a message to the government and industry.

“If we are strict, then we can regain people’s trust,” he said. “This can also be a warning to foreign investors who do business in Vietnam, telling them that they have to respect the interests of our country, of our people. We are not a dumping site.”

Formosa Steel Owns Up to Toxic Spill, Agrees to Pay Vietnam $500 Million

[VocalNeal]

Not exactly what will happen to the 500 M but almost...

-----
My new word is twunt, slightly under the radar
I apologize if any offence was caused. unless it was intended.
You people, you think I know fuck nothing; I tell you: I know fuck all"

[Latindancer]

Holy cow ! That's a momentous admission !

[billy the kid]

Criminality at its worst. Nobody should buy their products.

[misskit]

Vietnamese Protesters Fault Government Handling of Fish Kill Disaster

Thousands of Vietnamese took to the street in the central coastal province of Quang Binh on Thursday to press the government and a Taiwanese conglomerate to help fisherman who lost their livelihoods in mass fish die-off in April.

The protest by Catholic parishioners in the town of Ba Don came a week after Taiwan’s Formosa Ha Tin steel mill admitted that toxic chemicals discharged from their massive industrial plant in the Vung Ang Economic Zone caused one of largest environmental disasters in Vietnam’s history.

“The purpose of the protest is … after the pollution disaster, most of the fishermen face many difficulties in life,” a witness to the protest told RFA’s Vietnamese Service on Thursday afternoon as the rally was still unfolding.

“Their lives depend on the sea (and) they are very upset, especially after the government announced that the culprit is Formosa and the government agreed to the compensation of U.S. $500 million,” added the witness.

The witness said police quickly intervened in the March, detaining one protestor and injuring two others as scuffles ensued.

Hoang Anh Ngoi, the parish priest of the demonstrators, told RFA that he joined the protest because he supported the plea for help for the affected fishermen, who he said needed both short-term assistance and long-term government help to rebuild their lives.

A Vietnamese government investigation into the April spill determined that the release of toxic chemicals including cyanide from the plant caused the fish kill and the company, a subsidiary of the Formosa Plastics Group, apologized for the spill and offered $500 million in compensation.

The spill caused as estimated 70 tons of dead fish to wash up on the shores of Vietnam’s central coast starting in early April. An untold number of people were sickened when they ate the fish, and the disaster sparked rare protests across Vietnam, drawing a harsh crackdown for the communist government.

Civil society groups, however, say that both Formosa and the government failed to address the question of how the disaster happened, and whether Vietnamese officials abetted the Taiwan company’s skirting of environmental rules and standards. Some say the $500 million compensation package is too little, while others fear it will be pocketed by corrupt officials.

Earlier this week more than twenty civil society groups, political activists and religious organizations issued a signed statement condemning the government’s handling of the environmental disaster, accusing Hanoi of being lenient with Formosa Ha Tinh Steel and too quick to accept the $500 million without a deeper investigation.

According to the website Vietnam Right Now, the signatories want the offending steel plant to be shut and demand that government officials be held accountable for their bungled response to the disaster and the suppression of demonstrations by people hit hardest by the protest.

“We severely condemn the communist government for allowing Formosa to continue its existence and operation to cause environmental disasters, instead of taking it to court and closing it permanently,” said the statement, according to Vietnam Right Now, a web portal founded in 2014 that focuses on human rights issues.

Signatories included the Civil Society Forum, members of the Hoa Hao Buddhist church, and Bauxite Vietnam, an environmental group, it said.

Changing jobs not easy

For the estimated 1.4 people in four central coastal provinces who have suffered the destruction of their livelihoods, the Vietnamese government has proposed a plan to provide training for new jobs.

On July 4, Vietnam’s state media quoted Vo Van Tam, vice minister of agriculture and rural development, as saying the ministry will cooperate with the ministry of labor, invalids and social affairs on a vocational training program to help fishermen transfer to other jobs, including overseas work for deep-sea fishermen.

The plan entails loans for fisherman to find work abroad, and stipends to support vocational training for fishermen who want to transition to other work, the state media report said.

State media said government officials had not finalized the training plans yet.

Fishermen idled since the disaster, however, expressed strong reluctance to change jobs in interviews with RFA.

“We don’t know what job to do. The best way is for the government to clean up the environment so we can do our (old) job,” said fisherman Nguyen Xuan Canh of Ha Tinh province.

‘It is not feasible to transfer to other jobs. They said that but it is a big deal to make a change. Where will we go? We can’t work in the forest. We can’t do farming,” he added.

Another Ha Tinh fisherman, Tran Dinh Danh, agreed.

“It is very difficult to change a person’s job when he has been doing it for many years,” he told RFA. “We have only known the sea since we were born. If they want us to change, then they need to come here and talk to us. Everything needs to be transparent.”

Ho Huu Sia, a fisherman in Quang Binh province, told RFA the province “does not have land for farming.”

“Most of our land is sand, so it is almost impossible to plant anything,” he said.

Vietnamese Protesters Fault Government Handling of Fish Kill Disaster

[misskit]

Journalists attacked while investigating waste dumping scandal in Vietnam

Three reporters from a local newspaper and a television channel were attacked by guards of a company as they tried to document how waste from a unit of Taiwanese steel firm Formosa is treated and disposed of, according to Thanh Nien News Online on Saturday.

Phu Ninth district police in the northern province of Phu Tho confirmed the attack of the three reporters from Lao Dong newspaper and VTC television channel at the Phu Ha Environment Company on Friday.

The reporters came to the area after receiving local residents’ complaints about the waste. The company had just moved 145 tonnes of dangerous waste of Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp in the central province of Ha Tinh to Phu Tho.

The group was outside the waste treatment area when five men introducing themselves as guards searched their phones and cameras, after slapping and beating them, according to Tuoi Tre report.

Formosa HaTinh is struggling with a public relations disaster in Vietnam after it admitted to discharging toxic waste into the sea, causing massive fish deaths in April.

It is also under investigation for allegedly dumping more industrial wastes at various locations.

Journalists attacked while investigating waste dumping scandal in Vietnam - Thai PBS English News

[misskit]

Vietnam declares no-fishing zones in central coast

No fishing zones have been declared along Vietnam’s central coast by the Ministry of Agriculture to allow the sea water to recover from the toxic spill linked to Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa a few months ago, Thanh Nien News Online reported on Tuesday.

According to the official statement, zones over 800 square kilometres around Son Duong island of Ha Tinh province, Nhat Le beach in Quang Binh province and Son Cha island off Thua Thien-Hue province, stretching as far as 1.5 kilometres from the shoreline have been declared off-limits for fishing for a temporary period to give time for sea creatures to recover.

Nguyen Ngoc Qai, deputy head of the fishery department, admitted that the level of iron and toxic phenol and cyanide in the zones are higher than elsewhere but are within permitted levels.

Fishermen have also been told to refrain from harming deep-sea habitats within 20 sea miles from the shore in four affected provinces. They are also required to send samples of their catch to be tested for toxins and heavy metals every two or three days.

A unit of Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics which operates a steel plant in Ha Tinh has been held responsible for the toxic spill.

Vietnam declares no-fishing zones in central coast - Thai PBS English News

[misskit]

$500 million compensation fully paid by Formosa for environmental disaster

Formosa Plastics, the Taiwanese company which caused deadly marine pollution in Vietnam’s central provinces by discharging untreated effluents into the sea has paid up the US$500 million compensation, Thanh Nien News Online reported on Wednesday.

Officials of the Environment Ministry said the company had transferred the second half of the promised amount a month after paying the first.

But the finance and agriculture ministries are still working on the list of people affected by the toxic discharges which is expected at the end of this month.

A unit of Formosa Plastics operating a steel plant in Ha Tinh was held accountable for what was considered to be Vietnam’s worst environmental disaster. An estimated 70 tonnes of dead fish were washed ashore along 200 kilometres of coast in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces in April.

The government said Formosa had discharged waste containing phenol, cyanide and iron hydroxides into the sea. The toxic pollution created a seafood scare across the country and hit tourism in beach towns, harming the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people, including 40,000 fishermen.

$500 million compensation fully paid by Formosa for environmental disaster - Thai PBS English News

[misskit]

Vietnamese Parishioners March to Protest Lack of Compensation From Fish Kill


A woman collects dead clams on a beach at Ky Anh district, in the central Vietnamese coastal province of Ha Tinh, April 27, 2016.

Thousands of parishioners from the Roman Catholic diocese of Vinh in central Vietnam took to the streets on Thursday to protest against the Taiwanese steel firm whose local operations polluted the country’s central coastal area and caused the nation’s worst environmental disaster.

The members of Quy Hoa and Phu Yen parishes protested against a Formosa Plastics Group steel plant responsible for a release of toxic chemicals in April that killed tons of marine life and left fishermen and tourism industry workers jobless in four provinces.

In June, the company acknowledged it was responsible for the pollution that killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and pledged to pay $500 million to clean it up and compensate those affected by it.

The government said in a report to the National Assembly in July that the disaster had harmed the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people, including 41,000 fishermen.

About 3,000 parishioners from a church in Quy Hoa parish marched to the People’s Committee office in Ky Anh township of Ha Tinh province, where the dead fish were first detected, said Nguyen Thanh Lang, head of the parish’s ministry administration.

“Life is too difficult for us,” Lang said. “It has been four months since Formosa caused the pollution and people still have no jobs. [And] our children can’t go to school.”

“We demand our right to a clean ocean and that our children can go back to school,” he said.

At 9:45 a.m. local time, clashes between protesters and police erupted along Highway 1A, though no serious injuries were reported, sources said.

“Formosa paid U.S. $500 million [for the pollution], but the government has not paid the people,” said Nguyen Thi Phan, another protester. “We are looking for money to send our children to school.”

Last month local activists told RFA that families affected by the spill had lost their income and could not afford to pay school tuition.

‘Vietnam doesn’t need Formosa’

About 1,000 parishioners from Phu Yen parish carrying banners protesting against Formosa marched about four kilometers (2.5 miles) from their church to the place where fishing boats were anchored, according to parish priest Dang Huu Nam.

Plainclothes policemen stood by and took photos, but they did not interfere with the protesters, he said.

“We held many banners telling Formosa to leave Vietnam because Vietnam doesn’t need Formosa,” he said.

The protesters also demanded that Formosa be sued and that the compensation the company has already provided to the Vietnamese government be given to the villagers to clean up the polluted ocean waters.

Vietnam’s one-party communist state closely controls and monitors the Catholic community, the second largest religious group in the country.

In August, more than 200 policemen blocked and assaulted some of the 4,000 Catholic parishioners who tried to march to Ky Anh township’s administrative offices to protest government inaction over their loss of livelihood following the massive pollution-linked fish kill.

Before that, the marchers tried several times to demand relief from provincial authorities, but the police always stopped them, a protester named Phuong told RFA’s Vietnamese Service last month.

Formosa Plastics’ $10.6 billion steel complex in Ha Tinh province includes a steel plant, a power plant and a deep sea port, and is one of the largest foreign investments in Vietnam.

Vietnamese Parishioners March to Protest Lack of Compensation From Fish Kill

[misskit]

Great home made wheelbarrow in the above pic.

[Latindancer]

In other words : they're dirt poor

[VocalNeal]

..and after paying the $500 mil.

What changes /improvements is the Taiwanese company making to make certain no further pollutants will be discharged?

So lone guy should top the Taiwanese CEO of the site buy dunking him in hi own effluent. The only way to get these twunts attention.

[misskit]

Vietnam Cracks Down on Dissenters

The Vietnamese government is escalating a nationwide crackdown on human rights activists and people critical of the government’s handling of the chemical spill that devastated the country’s central coast, according to Amnesty International and other reports.

On Nov. 6, four people were arrested who are connected to a new civil society organization “The Alliance of Self-Determined People.”

All three have been charged with “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration” under Article 79 of the penal code, according to a report in Vietnam Right Now.

The draconian law is often used against dissenters and usually comes with a lengthy prison sentence of between 12 years and life, but people sentenced under the law can face the death penalty.

Activist Luu Van Vinh and his friend, Nguyen Van Duc Do, were arrested after police burst into Luu Van Vinh’s home in Ho Chi Minh City, according to witnesses.

“They held Vinh Luu down, beat him and arrested him right in front of us,” Luu Van Vinh’s wife Le Thi Thap told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.

“The police dragged him out without presenting any order, and they took away all the phones that were sitting on the table,” she said. “They took his friend too.”

Le Thi Thap told RFA that after beating the men, the police obtained arrest and search warrants.

“Vinh helped injustice victims and was involved in Formosa issue,” she said. “He is very enthusiastic about helping people and asking others to join in helping people.”

In a news release, Amnesty International said two other people with ties to Luu Van Vinh were also arrested. Du Phi Truong and Tuan Doan were also taken into custody, but the organization said that Nguyen Van Duc Do was arrested after his visit with Luu Van Vinh.

At least eight people have been arrested by Vietnamese authorities for dissenting activities in the past few weeks, much of which is connected to the chemical spill and its fallout.

In June, the Formosa Plastics Group acknowledged that it was responsible for the release of toxic chemicals from a steel plant it owns in April that killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and left fishermen and tourism industry workers jobless in Ha Tinh and three other central provinces.

Vietnam's government said in a report to the National Assembly in July that the disaster had harmed the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people, including 41,000 fishermen.

Formosa pledged to pay $500 million to clean it up and compensate people affected by the spill, but Vietnamese living with the country’s largest environmental disaster say that sum isn’t enough to compensate for the damage.

Act of defiance are rare in Vietnam, but the spill appears to have hit a chord with the Vietnamese as there have been demonstrations and other actions regarding the environmental and economic disaster.

Amnesty International said the arrests “represent an upturn in the use of the criminal justice system in a crackdown against human rights defenders and activists engaged in advocacy relating to the disaster which has included intimidation and harassment, and wide scale surveillance of activists.”

The organization called on the Vietnamese government to uphold the rights of freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression that is guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of which Vietnam is a signatory.

Vietnam Cracks Down on Dissenters

[misskit]

Formosa Spill Still Roils Public Opinion in Vietnam

Unrest continues to simmer in Vietnam over the $500 million deal Hanoi made with a Taiwanese company as compensation for a chemical spill at the Formosa steel mill that devastated the country’s central coast.

On Wednesday, about 2,000 fisherman from the Quang Binh province gathered at the Xuan Hoa hamlet’s cultural house to protest the government’s slow payout.

“People are upset because the government has not paid compensation to the people,” Catholic priest Mai Xuan Ai told RFA. “People are not satisfied with the government’s decision, so they took to the streets.”

The Catholic Church has led the effort to force the Vietnamese government to fairly compensate the people affected by the spill, and the protestors were largely Catholics from the Vinh diocese’s 3,500-person Xuan Hoa parish.

The Catholic Church has also spearheaded the legal response to the Formosa disaster, helping local people file hundreds of lawsuits even as the Vietnam’s one-party communist state closely controls and monitors the Catholic community, the second largest religious group in the country.

In June, the Formosa Plastics Group acknowledged that it was responsible for the release of toxic chemicals from its $110 million steel plant located at the deep-water port in the Ha Tinh Procince.

The April spill killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and left fishermen and tourism industry workers jobless in four central provinces.

Vietnam's government said in a report to the National Assembly in July that the disaster had harmed the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people, including 41,000 fishermen.

Formosa pledged to pay $500 million to clean it up and compensate people affected by the spill, but the government has faced protests over the amount of the settlement and the slow pace of the payouts.

During Wednesday’s protest, demonstrators brought banners that read: “Damaging the Environment is a Crime; Formosa Has to Compensate Properly and Formosa Leaves Vietnam.”

While public protests are rare in Vietnam, the Formosa spill has enraged public opinion and resulted in demonstrations, despite the government’s attempts to silence its critics.

Hard numbers are difficult to come by, but there have been dozens of arrests for activities related to the spill amid a general tightening of the reigns by the government.

In November Amnesty International said the arrests “represent an upturn in the use of the criminal justice system in a crackdown against human rights defenders and activists engaged in advocacy relating to the disaster which has included intimidation and harassment, and wide scale surveillance of activists.”

Formosa Spill Still Roils Public Opinion in Vietnam

[misskit]

Ha Tinh Villagers Protest in Bid to Get Formosa Payouts in Vietnam

Hundreds of residents from Thach Banh village in the Loc Ha district of Vietnam’s Ha Tinh province protested at the local people’s committee office on Wednesday in a bid to obtain compensation for pollution caused by a massive toxic spill from the Formosa steel plant nearly a year ago.

“We have gathered at the village’s committee office to protest” because none of the residents have received compensation for the environmental and economic losses from a chemical spill that polluted waters along four coastal provinces last April, said a female protester who declined to give her name.

People’s committees constitute the executive branch of Vietnam’s central communist government that carry out local administrative duties.

“Yesterday when we were here, they [people’s committee members] sent out some representatives to talk to us, but today they are closed,” she told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. “They took away phones from people who tried to record the scene.”

“Owners of businesses selling frozen seafood products and dried fish have not received any compensation” for the loss of their livelihoods, she said.

Wednesday’s demonstration was the latest of frequent protests by people in the coastal region affected by the disaster.

The April spill—Vietnam’s largest environmental disaster to date—killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and left fishermen and tourism industry workers jobless in four central provinces, including Ha Tinh.

Two months later, Taiwan-owned Formosa Plastics Group acknowledged it was responsible for the release of toxic chemicals from its massive steel plant located at the deep-water port in Ha Tinh province’s Ky Anh district.

The Vietnamese government said in a report to the National Assembly in July of that year that the disaster had harmed the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people, including 41,000 fishermen.

The company pledged U.S. $500 million to clean up and compensate people affected by the spill, but the government has faced protests over the amount of the settlement and the slow pace of payouts.

Ha Tinh Villagers Protest in Bid to Get Formosa Payouts in Vietnam

[hallelujah]

Ha Tinh Villagers Protest in Bid to Get Formosa Payouts in Vietnam

Hundreds of residents from Thach Banh village in the Loc Ha district of Vietnam’s Ha Tinh province protested at the local people’s committee office on Wednesday in a bid to obtain compensation for pollution caused by a massive toxic spill from the Formosa steel plant nearly a year ago.

“We have gathered at the village’s committee office to protest” because none of the residents have received compensation for the environmental and economic losses from a chemical spill that polluted waters along four coastal provinces last April, said a female protester who declined to give her name.

People’s committees constitute the executive branch of Vietnam’s central communist government that carry out local administrative duties.

“Yesterday when we were here, they [people’s committee members] sent out some representatives to talk to us, but today they are closed,” she told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. “They took away phones from people who tried to record the scene.”

“Owners of businesses selling frozen seafood products and dried fish have not received any compensation” for the loss of their livelihoods, she said.

Wednesday’s demonstration was the latest of frequent protests by people in the coastal region affected by the disaster.

The April spill—Vietnam’s largest environmental disaster to date—killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and left fishermen and tourism industry workers jobless in four central provinces, including Ha Tinh.

Two months later, Taiwan-owned Formosa Plastics Group acknowledged it was responsible for the release of toxic chemicals from its massive steel plant located at the deep-water port in Ha Tinh province’s Ky Anh district.

The Vietnamese government said in a report to the National Assembly in July of that year that the disaster had harmed the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people, including 41,000 fishermen.

The company pledged U.S. $500 million to clean up and compensate people affected by the spill, but the government has faced protests over the amount of the settlement and the slow pace of payouts.

Ha Tinh Villagers Protest in Bid to Get Formosa Payouts in Vietnam

If there's one thing that unites SE Asia, it's endemic corruption and disregard for those who haven't been crafty enough to have already lined their pockets.

[CaptainNemo]

cam on nheiu lam for the updates on this... everyone who likes tropical beaches needs to know.