VietNamNet Bridge – Local authorities in Binh Thuan Province have warned of the environmental danger of titanium processors in the aftermath of a broken sludge reservoir incident that occurred in Ham Thuan Nam District a week ago.

Red sludge reservoir broken in Binh Thuan

A bulldozer of Binh Thuan Trade and Mineral Investment Joint Stock Company cleans up sludge which spilled from the enterprise’s reservoir on November 18.

The central coastal province has titanium reserves of nearly 600 million tons with around one million tons exploited so far. However, the province has seen up to four sludge tank break accidents that have caused serious impacts on the environment.

Huynh Giac, director of the province’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said that the Government has set up a strategy to develop Binh Thuan into a large titanium center. In recent times, though, sludge tanks have mushroomed along exploitation locations of titanium processors.

As the reservoirs are built on uneven terrain and some investors are careless in building dykes around the tanks, sludge can easily spill over as a result of heavy rain, Giac said.

In addition, central authorities have yet to release a legal framework for sludge tank construction and sludge treatment, obstructing relevant agencies in supervising the environmental impacts of the projects. Binh Thuan many times has suggested the Ministry of Natural Resources to issue a legal framework so that local authorities can better manage titanium processors, Giac told the Daily last Friday.

After three sludge tank break incidents, local authorities forced the three violating factories to close down as they caused serious environmental damages.

Aside from Binh Thuan Trade and Mineral Investment Joint Stock Company whose sludge tank broke in Ham Thuan Nam District on November 18, Phu Hiep Company is also exploiting titanium on 805 hectares in Mui Ne in Phan Thiet City.

In the near future, the province will see titanium processing in Bac Binh District, exploiting around 110 million tons of titanium on a total area of over 14,300 hectares.

Concerning the sludge tank incident last week, the environment department found that carelessness in building and checking the reservoir was the cause of the incident.

Nguyen Cong Thanh, deputy general director of Binh Thuan Trade and Mineral Investment Joint Stock Company, told the Daily that heavy rain forced a sludge spill over the tank.

The torrent of sludge swept away three motorbikes but no casualties were reported. The red sludge which was 40 centimeters thick on the street also caused traffic jams for a number of hours and spilled into some houses and resorts under construction.

The titanium exploitation license of the enterprise expired in October, 2012.

Source: SGT