53 violations detected in environmental incident in central coastal Vietnam: official

As many as 53 violations have been detected in trial operation process of Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation (FHS) which caused mass fish deaths in central coastal Vietnam, said a Vietnamese official here on Monday.

Tran Hong Ha, Vietnamese minister of Natural Resources and Environment, made the remark at the 50th session of Vietnam's 13th National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee held in capital Hanoi on Monday.

According to Ha, during test run, FHS has made 53 administrative violations relating design, operation, construction and treatment system which do not follow legal regulations and standards of local authorities, reported Vietnam's state-run radio VOV.

"Among the 53 violating acts, FHS has deliberately changed processing technology method from Coke Dry Quenching to wet quenching of the coke, which includes a lot of waste," said Ha.

In April 2016, a serious environmental incident occurred in waters off Vietnam's four central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, which led to unusual deaths of marine lives, thus incurring huge socio-economic loss and creating negative impact on people's life and social security and order.

FHS has admitted that they are responsible for the incident and put forward five commitments, including paying economic compensation worth around 500 million U.S. dollars, supporting occupational changes for local people as well as dealing and restoring marine environment in the four provinces.

（APD）