Pollution from dairy farm forces families to relocate

About 700 families living near TH Milk Food Joint Stock Company in central Nghe An Province will be evacuated, after being hit by horrible odour and pollution from the farm.

Chairman of the Nghia Dan District's People's Committee, Vi Van Dinh, said that moving these families to other places was the best way to ensure their health.


The statement followed a letter by a resident living near the dairy farm in Nghia Dan District's Dong Lam Village to CEO of the company, Thai Thi Huong.

In the letter, the resident accused the company of polluting the water sources. The letter also claimed that a horrible smell emanated from the factory, which affected local residents. The letter had been shared widely on Facebook recently.

Ly Hong Duong, head of Dong Lam Village, said that the letter was a true reflection of what locals had to suffer.

Three problems mentioned in the letter, including the horrible odour, the sewage trucks driving carelessly and the pollution of water sources were correct, he said.

Since the disposal of cow sewage was done near the residential areas the residents had to live with the horrible odour, flies and mosquitoes.

Sewage trucks, which drove carelessly, dropped sewage onto the roads and sometimes splashed them over passersby.

The company's sewage dumping hole, which was located on the hill, once broke due to flash floods and sewage drifted into a lake, which locals use for their daily requirements, he said.

Although these problems have been partly fixed by the company, locals have still been suffering from the pollution, he said.

Company representative Le Van Can said that there were no reasons for anyone to allege that the production in the company had caused a serious impact on people's health.

According to Can, the company used specialised sewage trucks, and all trucks drove very slowly – about 20 kms per hour, thus the situation mentioned on the letter was not possible.

Dinh said that the committee had sent a team to inspect the situation after reading the letter.

He said that the dairy farm was a large-scale project. In some aspects, the project did not ensure its commitment on environment protection although the company was willing to listen to people's complaints and fix the problems.

He said the company has, in general, fixed problems of the horrible smell and sewage. However, it was necessary to move these affected households out of the farm's surroundings.

He said the committee has chosen an area for evacuation, but the financial implications with regard to building facilities, electricity and water for people was a thorny problem.

Can agreed with the committee, saying that the company would need cooperation of the provincial and district authorities to resolve compensation and evacuation issues of the affected households.

Previously, the company had spent tens of billions of dong to evacuate nearly 30 households out of affected areas.