Ore waste spill engulfs community

A huge landslide spilled rocks and red mud from an ore waste dump over the irrigation system, stream and fields of more than a dozen households in the northern province of Cao Bang's Na Rua on Thursday, two months after another landslide hit the area.

Since Cao Bang Iron Steel Joint Stock Co. built the dump in 2013, local residents were haunted by fear of landslides, said district farmer Hoang Van Thach.

"We are always scared that the landslides will bury our crops and even threaten our lives, especially when it rains heavily," he said.

The ore waste dump was located on top of a hill, below which lay the irrigation system and the farmers' fields. Only a stream separated the residential area from the hill.

The July 6 landslide spilled mud and rocks over the 2-km irrigation channel and 6,000 sq.m. of fields. Some fields were covered with so much mud and rocks that they could no longer be used for farming.

Hoa Chung district People's Committee President Le Thanh Huan said that Cao Bang Iron Steel Joint Stock Co., had not cleared the mud and rocks left from the first landslide or compensated the farmers for their losses.

Half the stream that provides water for farming was buried under red mud in the second landslide and was seriously polluted. Higher water levels in the stream due to heavy rain will flood the fields with red mud.

"Na Rua residents have continuously asked local authorities to dredge the mud and to clear the channels for months, but we have yet to receive any answer from them," district resident Trinh Van Quan said angrily.