VietNamNet Bridge – In response to allegations of discharging untreated effluents, inter-disciplinary environmental inspectors decided to halt operations of a starch factory in Binh Phuoc Province affliated with Vedan,

Three samples of wastewater are being tested for poisons, including cyanide which experts say collects in large amounts in cassava bark.

According to Huynh Viet Thang, chief inspector of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE), 1,000 cu.m. of effluents from the manioc clean-up process were dumped into the environment untreated per day.

Any punitive measures against responsible parties will be announced once an analysis of wastewater samples is done.

Three samples of wastewater are being tested for poisons, including cyanide which experts say collects in large amounts in cassava bark, said Thang.

Designed to process 1,600 tonnes of raw material per day, the plant may resume operations only after DNRE-approved wastewater treatment solutions are carried out, he said.

In related news, provincial inspectors also suspended a starch factory affiliated with KMC Viet Nam Starch Processing Co. Ltd. on National Highway 13 in Chon Thanh District.

This factory was shut down last Friday for an unspecified period of time. With a design capacity of 350 tonnes of raw material per day, it is 80 per cent Denmark-owned, and 20 per cent Singapore-owned.

The Tay Ninh Province People’s Committee halted operations of two other starch plants: Taiwanese-invested Hing Chang Co. in Chau Thanh District and the Tan Chau Starch Factory in Tan Chau District.

The two plants made habitual violations, but have yet to fix the situation and continued to discharge untreated effluents into the Sai Gon and Vam Co Dong rivers.

(Source: Viet Nam News)