Sun Feeds Joint Stocks Company releases untreated pig farm excrement

Vietnam's environmental inspectors and police had found Sun Feeds to have illegally released waste water into the environment which overflowed into wells and reservoir.

 

The 20-hectare farm started operating in the Dai Son Commune, Do Luong District, in 2005 and was designed to raise 5,000 pigs. However, the farm currently hosts 19,000 pigs with its waste treatment system incapable of treating the increased amount of pig excrement.

 

Department vice chairman Nguyen Duy Nhu said the farm also had failed to report that is was releasing dangerous waste into the environment and using underground and surface water. Its treated waste water also did not meet standards.

 

Central Nghe An Province's Natural Resources and Environment Department has recommended measures to tackle pollution caused by Sun Feeds Joint Stocks Company pig farm.

 

Over the last two years, waste water has overflowed into nearby Cho Ran reservoir that is intended to irrigate thousands of hectares of the commune's rice paddy and provide daily water for use by more than 1,000 local households.

 

Local resident Dang Ba Toan said that they could no longer use water from the reservoir for irrigation and water from their wells was also contaminated by the pig excrement.

 

He added they had to take water from neighbouring communes and the stench, flies and increased numbers of local rodents had worsened their lives.

 

The commune People's Committee chairman Nguyen Thuc Thanh in an interview with Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Countryside Today) newspaper said that the local authority had asked the company to deal with the problem many times but no changes had been made.

 

Early last month, local residents gathered in front of the farm, asking the company to stop polluting the local environment and relocate away from the commune. Following the move, the local authority, the company leaders and residents met but they failed to reach any common agreement.

 

According to the department's recommendation, the company had to improve its waste water treatment and collect and treat its waste by the end of this month. The company agreed to take responsibility by dredging the reservoir, building more storage tanks and supporting 34 households in drilling wells for clean water.