(DT) - Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Pham Khoi Nguyen, laid out six levels of prevention to deal with the possibility of a red-mud lake rupture.The minister made the statements at a National Assembly discussion on November 2 following the recent public concern and bauxite disaster in Hungary as environmental debates about the Central Highlands projects intensifies.
For the worry about the possible water spill into reservoirs, he said that a report on environmental impact by the Vietnam National Coal Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) mentions the construction of a ditch system for water storage to prevent the risk.
Nguyen added that the Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology has calculated and measured indexes as well as anticipated climate change issues, to ensure that water will not flow into the lakes.
Regarding toxic substances infiltrating red-mud lakes, Nguyen affirmed that modern measures will prevent this.
The minister noted that, after earthquake research in the Central Highlands region for many years, the MoNRE identified that regional earthquakes could reach up 5.0 on the Richter scale. However, the ministry has asked the institute to prepare for earthquakes reaching up to 7.0 on the Richter scale.
Nguyen said, the Research Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources has declared that there are no latent risks for cracks after measuring and examining the red-mud lakes.
Responding to the fear of a lake break, the official explained that the environmental report includes solutions to this. In Vietnam, a 108 hectare red-mud area is to be divided into eight lakes, much smaller than reservoir areas in many other countries.
In case of facing problems when pouring red-mud into the first lake, the second will help contain the red-mud. When processing red-mud in the third lake, the first runs out of water and becomes dry enough for trees to grow in it.
For the break possibility of the last lake, the ministry has asked Vinacomin to reserve a 50-ha area for containing red-mud.
The ministry has also decided to set up a task force to supervise Vinacomin’s activities. “This is a very special conditionwhich is not found in Vietnam,” Nguyen emphasised.
The MoNRE will send a delegation to Hungary to study problems related to their recent red-mud incident.
Deputy urges more careful consideration
At the discussion, National Assembly Deputy Duong Trung Quoc, said Minister Nguyen’s confirmation is not completely persuasive to him, specifying that the environment impact report was out of date as it was done a year ago.
According to Quoc, proposals of experts and scientists have been very influential in shaping public opinion; however, feedback from the government and concerned agencies has become unconvincing for many.
Quoc said Vinashin (Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group) is a lesson for bauxite projects. He cautioned that if the National Assembly relaxes its management on these projects and ignores public opinion, a Vinashin-like failure is could likely be repeated.
Vinashin only caused financial losses, but the bauxite projects will hurt the national fate, the deputy emphasised
