Formosa Plastics Group’s (FPG, 台塑集團) Vietnam-based subsidiary, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp (台塑河靜鋼鐵興業), which constructs integrated steelworks, yesterday said that there is no evidence linking the company to large numbers of dead fish in central Vietnam.
“The company has handled all wastewater in compliance with [Vietnamese] government rules and inspection procedures,” Formosa Ha Tinh Steel said in a statement.
The company was “shocked and sorry” to learn that large numbers of fish were found dead in Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Quang Binh and Hue provinces as a result of unknown sources of pollution.
Last week, Vietnamese government officials, along with local media and reporters, visited the company’s plants to investigate its discharges of industrial wastewater and take some samples, the statement said.
Vietnamese Vice Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Vo Tuan Nhan said Formosa Ha Tinh Steel’s drainage system is legal and consistent with the nation’s standards governing wastewater discharge, according to a Central News Agency report on Sunday.
In the statement, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel said it spent US$45 million on its drainage system, adding that it discharges 11,000m3 of wastewater per day via subsea pipelines, less than the upper limit of 45,000m3 set by authorities, and that its system is subject to continuous automatic monitoring.
“We do not understand why there are so many dead fish,” the company said in the statement. “We hope the Vietnamese authorities can clarify the situation as soon as possible.”
Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp’s major shareholders include FPG, China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) and Japanese firm JFE Steel Corp, and it is the biggest foreign direct investment in Vietnam, according to FPG’s Web site.
FPG is Taiwan’s largest industrial employer.
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