2016 Vietnam Marine Life Disaster

The 2016 Vietnam Marine Life Disaster was a water pollution crisis affecting four provinces in central Vietnam, including Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue.

Fish carcasses were reported to be washed up on the beaches of Ha Tinh province from at least 6 April, 2016.^[1] Later, a large number of dead fish were found on the coast of Ha Tinh and three other provinces (Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue) until 18 April, 2016.^[2] A steel plant built by the Taiwanese corporation Formosa Plastics is responsible for discharging toxic industrial waste illegally into the ocean through drainage pipes.^[3]After denying responsibility for months, Formosa accepted responsibility for the fish deaths on June 30, 2016.^[4]

The massive marine life destruction led to a number of protests by Vietnamese citizens in some cities on 1 May, 2016, calling for clean environment and demanding the transparency in the investigation process.^[5]

Causes

The Formosa steel plant is suspected to be the source of the toxic chemical waste.^[6] The company admitted that there was a sewage pipe connecting the plant and the ocean and it was reported that several days before the incident, 300 tons of chemicals were imported by Formosa in order to clean the pipe.^[7] Formosa was later ordered by Vietnamese authorities to remove those sewage pipes.^[8] However, the Vietnamese government denied that the Formosa steel plant was linked to the disaster.^[9][10]

Vietnamese scientists largely agreed that the source of toxins was from the Vung Ang Economic Zone, in which the Formosa steel plant was located; meanwhile, the Vietnamese government was accused of concealing the findings from the public.^[11]

In a press conference held on 27 April, Vo Tuan Nhan, the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment claimed that the two main suspects of the marine life destruction were red tide and toxins generated by people.^[12] However, the red tide explanation was quickly rejected by the Vietnamese Fisheries Society.^[13][14]

At 5:00 PM on June 30, 2016, the Government Office held a press conference to announce the causes and perpetrators of this particularly serious environmental disaster. Accordingly, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and other relevant units have checked and discovered violations regarding Formosa discharging toxic waste into the sea waste water containing toxins exceeding the permitted level. Based on the ground-level investigation, "the Vietnamese authorities along with the participation of scientists had concluded that Formosa was responsible for this environment pollution that led to marine life disaster."^[15]

Effects and responses

Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Prime Minister of Vietnam, claimed that the massive marine life destruction was “the most serious environmental disaster Vietnam has ever faced”.^[16]

By 29 April, approximately 80 tons of fish carcasses had been washed up to the shores of 4 central provinces of Vietnam from Ha Tinh to Thua Thien Hue.^[17] On 6 May, the amount of collected fish carcasses surpassed 100 tons.^[18]

The disaster disrupted the livelihood of fishermen in four provinces in the central coast of Vietnam. On 4 May, 2016, Vietnamese government had announced a ban of processing and selling seafood caught within 20 nautical miles of central Vietnam provinces, just one day after the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment had claimed that the seafood in the region met safety standards.^[19]

According to the local government of Quang Binh, the fishermen of this province had already lost $5.2 million; in addition, the disaster also heavily impacted the tourism industry as nearly 30% tourists canceled their planned tours to the affected provinces for the national holiday season starting on 30 April.^[20]

References