By Bennett Murray
HANOI, Vietnam (AA) – A beleaguered Taiwanese steel manufacturer responsible for a recent mass fish kill in Vietnam is facing a fresh criminal investigation over discoveries of buried cyanide-laced waste.
A local contractor for Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, a subsidiary of Taiwan’s largest industrial conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group, was caught burying mud waste at a farm in north-central Vietnam’s Ha Tinh province July 11.
Police proceeded to discover that 391 metric tons of mud containing cyanide had been buried on behalf of Formosa, reported the local Tuoi Tre newspaper Wednesday.
A criminal investigation has been launched to probe both Formosa and its contractor, Ky Anh Town Urban Environment Co..
Formosa previously caused a nationwide uproar in April after several tons of fish, including deepwater species uncommonly found near the shore, washed up along a stretch of coastline spanning 200 kilometers (124 miles) across four provinces.
With local media speculating that the factory was to blame, a Hanoi-based representative for the company stirred outrage April 25 after he seemed to flippantly admit guilt, telling local media that Vietnam had to choose between “catching fish and shrimp and building a modern steel industry”.
The environmental catastrophe then turned into a political headache for the single-party communist state when dissidents began accusing the government of complicity.
Protests, which are illegal and rare in Vietnam, began occurring weekly in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City against Formosa and, to a lesser extent, the government.
A state investigation eventually concluded in late June that the deaths were caused by “serious violations” by Formosa that resulted in the leakage of phenol, cyanide and iron oxide into the ocean.
Formosa was ordered to spend $500 million to compensate locals whose livelihoods were damaged.
Industry in Vietnam has occasionally been blamed for environmental disasters. Vedan Vietnam, a Taiwanese MSG maker, was caught using a network of underground pipes to discharge waste into the Thi Vai River near Ho Chi Minh City in 2008.
While the company was required to pay compensation to local farmers after the government determined that 77 percent of the river’s pollution could be attributed to Vedan, the firm was caught dumping another 50 metric tons of waste in April 2015, reported Thanh Nien newspaper.
