A lagoon of 210 ha in Duc Pho Town of Quang Ngai Province is where people extract salt water into their salt farm but in recent times, a majority of the lagoon has been turned into a dumping ground.
Covering his nose to avoid the unpleasant smell, Do Chi Nguyen, 69, said people started throwing trash directly into the lagoon after a waste treatment plant in the area was suspended five years ago.
The trash has so far polluted the source of water for seafood and salt farming, prompting several farmers to abandon their salt farms.
Garbage covers a sluice gate to prevent salinity at the lagoon.
“Each family here used to have wells to get underground water but these days the water source is way too polluted so we have to buy bottled water for food and drink,” said a local named Vo Thi Nhi.
Boats and coracles for fishing are docked next to floating garbage in the lagoon.
Do Tam Hien, chairman of Duc Pho Town, said in 2018, MD Environmental Technology and Trading Co. Ltd inaugurated a solid waste treatment plant worth VND52 billion (US$2.18 million) in the town, but just three months into operation, the project was opposed by locals, accusing it of causing pollution for the neighborhood.
Later that year, provincial inspectors concluded that a series of departments had committed violations when approving the project and the environmental assessment.
Plastic and styrofoam waste floats on the water’s surface of a farm to raise clams.
Quang Ngai authorities have held talks with residents to convince them to agree to have the waste treatment plant put back into business, but they disagreed.
Trash overflows the beach nearby.
For an immediate solution, Duc Pho Town’s authorities will set up trash bins and surveillance cameras to keep people from discarding garbage directly into the lagoon.
The existing garbage in the lagoon will be moved to a temporary landfill.
The town is carrying out a plan to build a new waste treatment complex and is currently at the step of assessing its environmental impact.
