Sea water in the Central region becomes normal

• Celebrities pitch in for Central Region flood victims
• Prompt actions made to cope with floods in central region
• Compensation for marine environmental damage basically completed
• Thua Thien – Hue pays second-batch Formosa compensation to fishermen

The information has just been released by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment after deploying a monitoring program to re-assess the quality of the marine environment in the Vietnamese four central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue. The observation was carried out at 19 beaches, in the 4 provinces.

Sea water in the Central region becomes normal as it’s now safe for swimming and aquaculture. Photo for illustration.

Results from the monitoring show that the quality of the marine environment including sea water and marine sediment off the four central provinces has been stabilized and qualified for aquaculture, aquatic conservation, swimming and other recreational activities (refer to QCVN 10-MT: 2015 / BTNMT - National Technical Regulation on sea water quality and QCVN 43: 2012 / BTNMT - National Technical Regulation on sediment quality).

In particular, chemical pollutants such as phenol and iron (Fe) are all at permissible levels under the Vietnamese regulations (QCVN 10-MT: 2015 / BTNMT) and even much lower than the 2016’s monitoring results.

At some areas, chemical pollutants exceeded the standards under the Vietnamese regulations. However, this is not due to the marine pollution incident caused by Taiwanese Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation but results from floods and traffic activities.

Reportedly, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has proposed the provincial people committees of the four provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue to continue coordinating closely with relevant agencies and organizations to monitor discharge activities of Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation.