The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has requested the USD1.2-billion Lee & Man Paper Plant in Hau Giang Province to halt operations due to public concerns over its environmental impact.
According to Hoang Van Thuc, Deputy Director of the ministry's General Department of Environment, following articles about environmental risks posed by the plant, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged the ministry to work with environmental police and provincial authorities to conduct an investigation into the plant.
Thuc also said that the plant was also requested to cease operations during the investigation.
The plant located near the Hau River is the largest of its kind in Vietnam and is among the five biggest paper plants in the world.
Lee & Man conducted an environmental impact assessment for the plant in 2008. According to the report, the plant would discharge around 28,500 tonnes of sodium hydroxide into the Hau River every year.
It would discharge 200-300 cubic metres in waste water compared to just 10-20 tonnes seen in more modern production lines.
However, in a report to the government, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that the large volume of toxins could disrupt the Hau River’s ecosystem by destroying seafood resources and seriously affect aquaculture in the Mekong Delta which accounts for 70% for the country’s fisheries and aquaculture production.
VASEP general secretary Truong Dinh Hoe said that there should be a new environmental impact assessment based on the changing situation in the Mekong Delta due to the effect of global warming.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has asked Lee & Man to review the environmental assessment report for the paper project to submit to the ministry for consideration and install automatic wastewater monitoring systems.
Besides the paper plant, Lee & Man has also invested in several other projects in Chau Thanh District, Hau Giang Province, including a pulp factory and a thermal power plant, an international seaport and a wastewater treatment facility.