Wastewater from mountain landfill flows into Nha Trang sea

It originates at the Ru Ri landfill in Luong Hoa Hamlet, Bac Nha Trang Ward (formerly Nha Trang City) in Khanh Hoa Province.

Established as an open dump in 1980, the facility used to employ outdated disposal methods and had no engineered bottom liner. When decommissioned in 2014, it was capped with soil and a waterproof membrane, but its original unlined base was never remediated.

Now leachate continues to seep from the bottom of the landfill, forming a polluted stream that runs for several dozen kilometers into a ditch before merging with a stream near Giang Day Bridge on National Highway 1A and reaching the sea.

It passes through Luong Hoa and Luong Son hamlets, affecting dozens of households, with its volumes surging recently after several heavy bouts of rain.

Many locals complain that they have repeatedly reported the issue without authorities providing any permanent solution.

"The smell from the drainage ditch is terrible — like dead animals," Huynh Van Tu, 42, who lives in Luong Son 3 Hamlet, said.

He bought a house near the ditch three years ago when the water was clear and had fish swimming in it. But in the last five months the water has turned pitch black and no living creatures can survive in it.

Sanitation workers sprinkle lime to deodorize it, but the stench returns every few weeks.

Pham Thi Tuyet, 62, of the same hamlet said she "doesn't dare open the door" because the odor is very strong.

She said the problem has persisted for over six years, both in the rainy and dry seasons.

"There are all kinds of bad smells — from landfill leachate and household garbage dumped into the ditch."

Huynh Van Tu stands next to a polluted ditch caused by the landfill. Photo by VnExpress/Bui Toan

According to the Khanh Hoa Department of Agriculture and Environment, Bac Nha Trang Ward has a leachate treatment plant with a capacity of 186 cubic meters per day serving the Ru Ri and Luong Hoa landfills, with Ru Ri having been closed.

But the current average volume collected is 216 cubic meters per day, and rainwater from two upstream streams causes the system to overload.

In addition, after many years of use, the pipeline system of the plant has accumulated residues, leading to blockages, it said.

It has called on the Department of Construction and the Khanh Hoa Development Project Management Board to soon complete and put into operation a wastewater treatment plant and collection system under the Vietnam Coastal Cities Sustainable Environment Project to improve sanitation and urban infrastructure in coastal cities, including treating leachate from landfills.

Luong Hoa landfill seen from above. Photo by VnExpress/Bui Toan

It also wants the Nha Trang Public Utility Management Board to submit an investment plan to upgrade and renovate the existing leachate collection and treatment system to ensure stable, long-term operation.

Specialist agencies have been tasked with analyzing the water flow, especially in the rainy season, to develop measures to prevent rainwater from mixing with leachate.