200 tons of tar, rubbish washes up along Vietnam's central coast

By Son Thuy   February 14, 2017 | 11:39 pm PT
Authorities in Quang Nam Province are still struggling to clear up the mess after a fortnight.
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Around 200 tons of garbage and tar has washed up along a 7-kilometer stretch of coast in the central province of Quang Nam, home to the popular tourist town of Hoi An.

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The incident was reported to local authorities on February 2. Nguyen Vien from the environment department said: “We’re still waiting for reports from other departments, but the garbage may have drifted in from international waters.”

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Many bottles with Chinese lettering were found along the coast. A local named Cuong told VnExpress that this is the first time he has seen such a huge amount of garbage wash up onto the coast.

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Authorities have sent sanitation workers to the polluted site, but it will take about 10 days to clean up the 7-kilometer stretch of coast.

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Huynh Khanh Toan, deputy chairman of Quang Nam’s People’s Committee, said that they have called on local citizens to help collect the lumps of tar before they melt into the ground under the hot weather.

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Around 20 sanitation workers are working non-stop at the site to collect garbage.

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Lumps of tar have been buried in the sand so workers have to use sieves to sort through them.

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Hazardous waste is being taken to an incinerator while normal waste is being transported to landfill sites.

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“Tomorrow [February 15] we will send more workers to the polluted site and get the clean-up finished soon,” said Nguyen Ngo, deputy head of the province’s environment agency.

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Hazardous waste is loaded onto a truck to be sent to an incinerator.

Photos by VnExpress/Son Thuy

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