VietNamNet Bridge - More than 200 ‘hot spots’ with plant protection residues in 15 cities have been found, threatening local people, domestic animals and the environment. 

The pollution caused by plant protection chemicals is ‘alarming’ , said Ho Trung Kien, deputy head of the Waste Management and Environment Improvement Agency. 

These toxic organic compounds topped the list of 12 dangerous toxins, which are very stable in the environment, and are barely biodegradable, including the POPs group’s DDT, 666 and Aldrin.

In 2011, shrimp and fish were found dead en masse in Soc Trang and Bac Lieu provinces in Mekong River Delta. State agencies, after taking probe, discovered that aquatic creatures died because of Cypermethrin – a substance in plant protection chemical – which polluted the water sources.

The chemicals, with the help of rains, had been absorbed into the earth and underground water or existed in the air and food.

Toxic chemical residues have been found in 240 places in 15 provinces. Of the 100 places marked as ‘seriously polluted spots’, 60 percent are located in the central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh.

There are 189 ‘seriously polluted’ and ‘very seriously polluted’ spots in Nghe An, which accounts for 80 percent of total hotspots in the country. Meanwhile, there are 55 spots in Ha Tinh, accounting for 55 percent of total hotspots.

The Nghe An provincial Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, which surveyed 277 out of 913 plant protection chemical warehouses, found the chemical residues in earth 96 percent higher than the permitted level in 265 spots.

State management agencies have been confused about settling the pollution because this requires high technology and high costs.

The provincial authorities have been trying to settle the pollution in 10 places, while joining forces with the General Directorate of Environment to implement some other projects. They have investigated the pollution levels in 73 other spots and drawn up plants to clean up the sites.

The biggest problem is that 90 percent of the hot spots in the two provinces are located in areas with residential quarters. Most polluted land areas have been exploited to cultivate crops and raise animals.

More dangerously, people in the areas use underground water which is in high danger of getting polluted. Only some local households use rainwater for daily life or store water in tanks.

A report showed that 900 tons of chemicals have been treated so far. The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment have treated chemical residues in 60 spots throughout the country under the framework of the 2012-2015 national program on environmental improvement, at a cost of VND250 billion funded by the state budget.

Thien Nhien