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Environmental assessment asked for steel project
The Ministry of Planning and Investment has asked the South Korean investor of a steel plant project in central Vietnam to submit an environmental impact report and a waste handling plan for the project.
According to a recent report by the ministry, POSCO, Asia’s third-biggest steelmaker, plans to build a steel mill, a power plant and other facilities over an area of 903 hectares in Van Phong Economic Zone of Khanh Hoa Province.
S. Korea steelmaker Posco’s proposed steel complex site reserved for the Van Phong International Seaport
After carrying out an initial study on environmental issues at POSCO’s steel mills in South Korea, the ministry said a report on the potential environmental effects of the mill in Khanh Hoa Province must be assessed by local authorities before construction can begin.
The mill will produce several million tons of slag waste every year, necessitating the need for a plan for disposal or recycling, the ministry said in its report.
Currently no official regulation exists requiring factories to submit regular reports on the amounts of waste they produce.
Thus, if POSCO’s steel mill project is realized, the provincial administration and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment should monitor the impacts of the mill on the surrounding environment, the Ministry of Planning and Investment suggested.
The project had raised environmental concerns before it was approved by the government in January.
Many had feared it might pollute Khanh Hoa Province’s Van Phong Bay, one of Vietnam’s most beautiful bays located near the central coastal tourist town of Nha Trang.
POSCO said in April it aims to start constructing the plant in April 2009.
Thanhnien
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