Eliminate many pollution black spots

The area of ​​Van Diep village, Nam Phong commune, Nam Dinh city, Nam Dinh province (now Vi Khe ward, Ninh Binh province) used to be a black spot of environmental pollution due to residual plant protection chemicals, directly affecting the lives of surrounding households. From 2013 to 2015, thanks to support funds from the Central and provincial budgets, this polluted spot was gradually handled, and people around the area were able to live and cultivate again with peace of mind.

This result was achieved thanks to the Prime Minister approving in 2010 Plan 1946 on handling and preventing environmental pollution caused by residual pesticides nationwide, with a list of 240 polluted spots that need to be treated and rehabilitated. This is one of the major efforts to "rescue" abandoned lands due to poisoning.

Immediately after that, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment ) issued a Program to implement the Plan to handle and prevent environmental pollution caused by residual plant protection chemicals nationwide.

Within the framework of the "Project on integrating climate change resilience and environmental protection to develop green cities" of the Department of Environment, scientists from the Institute of Science, Technology and Environment, Hanoi University of Science and Technology have just conducted a report assessing the results of the above Plan, and at the same time proposed a list of polluted spots that need to be treated, renovated and restored.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Anh Tuyet, Director of the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, the treatment of soil contaminated with residual pesticides is a new field in Vietnam. In the initial stages of implementation, there were many difficulties in technology, resources and human resources. Up to now, the domestic treatment capacity has made significant progress. In addition to traditional waste incineration technology, many new solutions have been researched and applied: Fenton technology, TAML iron, ball milling, thermal desorption, co-treatment in cement kilns , etc. Thanks to that, the quantity and quality of units with treatment capacity have increased rapidly compared to before.

Results of implementing Plan 1946/QD-TTg on handling and preventing environmental pollution caused by residual plant protection chemicals nationwide

Not only improving in technology, localities also improve their capacity to manage soil pollution. This is an important step for Vietnam to fulfill its international commitment when joining the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

After 15 years of implementation, 120 polluted sites have been treated and restored, 71 sites have been removed from the List due to the content of pollutants being within the allowable limits. The remaining 49 sites are being treated or projects are being developed for treatment, restoration and improvement.

Challenges from new pollution points

Despite many positive results, challenges remain as land treatment, improvement and restoration activities require large funding sources and modern technology. According to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Anh Tuyet, most of the pollution points due to residual plant protection chemicals are concentrated in the Central region, especially Nghe An, which still receives support from the central budget. The cost of implementing the projects is relatively large, while the provincial budget is limited, making it difficult to arrange counterpart funding. Basic treatment technology has met the requirements, but due to the small scale of the projects, modern technologies cannot be applied.

In addition, recent surveys have discovered 130 new pollution spots , mainly concentrated in Quang Tri, Nghe An and Thanh Hoa. These are areas that need to be investigated in detail and treatment projects established soon to avoid the risk of spreading and long-term impacts on people's lives.

Experts believe that in the coming period, Vietnam needs to issue a new plan to continue to handle, renovate and restore areas that are particularly polluted due to history or where the polluting unit cannot be identified, in which it proposes orientations from now until 2035, to continue to investigate, handle, renovate and restore the environment of residual pesticide sites that cause environmental pollution, at the same time, strengthen prevention and minimize the harmful effects of residual pesticide chemicals on humans, the environment and the community.

Associate Professor Nguyen Thi Anh Tuyet - Director of the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Expert of the Project "Integrating climate change resilience and environmental protection to develop green cities"

To achieve this goal, the provincial People's Committee needs to proactively investigate and approve projects to treat and restore seriously polluted soil in the area, while ensuring capital and human resources.

Project experts also said that in order to quickly eliminate black spots in these localities, it is necessary for the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to issue economic and technical standards, create a clear legal corridor for pollution treatment projects, and at the same time support localities in conducting detailed investigations of pesticide residues in the province, to establish projects to include in the Government's treatment support plan.

“We have experience and capacity. The important issue now is the mechanism, policies and resources to continue the next journey, towards completely eliminating black spots of pesticide pollution across the country, protecting the environment and people's health,” said Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Anh Tuyet.

Photo source: Project "Integrating climate change resilience and environmental protection to develop green cities" provided

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/kinh-te/tim-loi-giai-cho-dat-nhiem-doc-thuoc-bao-ve-thuc-vat-157566.html