Heavy Rains in Vietnam Cause an Avalanche of Coal Waste, Threatening Communities and Ha Long Bay World Heritage Site
By: Waterkeeper Alliance
Quang Ninh, Vietnam – July 30, 2015: Over the past two days, heavy seasonal rains in northeastern Vietnam have flooded local communities with industrial coal waste and threatened the safety of citizens, wildlife and the Ha Long Bay World Heritage Site.
Cam Pha City has already been flooded with an avalanche of coal mining waste and a second community is being evacuated (see map here). News photos and video footage from Cam Pha show men, women and children wading through thick mud contaminated with coal waste as they flee their homes.
The coal industry generates massive amounts of waste that can contain a wide array of materials dangerous to human health and the environment including heavy metals like arsenic, boron, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese, selenium and thallium.
“Steps must be taken to immediately protect at-risk Vietnamese communities and the environment that are threatened by massive coal mines and coal ash ponds at coal-fired power plants surrounding Ha Long Bay,” said Ms. Donna Lisenby, Clean and Safe Energy Campaign Manager for Waterkeeper Alliance.
Waterkeeper Alliance has years of experience testing and documenting severe water pollution and other impacts from coal waste contamination in the United States and around the world.
“Coal waste facilities are ticking time bombs if they are not properly constructed to withstand large rainfall events,” said Ms. Lisenby.
“As the unfolding disaster in Quang Ninh shows all too clearly, there have not been sufficient efforts to protect surrounding communities or Ha Long Bay from a deluge of coal waste.
“Waterkeeper Alliance is very concerned about the government’s plans to significantly expand the use of coal power in Vietnam when it has the option of investing in clean renewable energy that does not generate millions of tonnes of waste annually. Disasters such as this should be a wake-up call for the Vietnamese government.
“Climate change is only going to make extreme weather events such as this more common. The government must review its plans for more mines and coal plants in the light of the dangers to human health and safety that arise as a result of coal waste problems,” observed Ms. Lisenby.
The good news is that many developing countries are choosing to move away from coal and determining that development, the environment and the climate can all thrive without it. Indeed a new report from Oxfam Australia supports the use of sustainable energy over coal.
Media Contacts:
Tina Posterli, Waterkeeper Alliance, [email protected]g,+1-516-526-9371 (US)
Andrew Bradley, [email protected], +61 403 777 137 (Australia)
新闻发布日7/30/15
越南强降雨导致煤灰崩解并威胁社区和哈龙海湾世界自然文化遗产
广宁省，越南 – 2015年7月30日：这两天以来，越南东北地区的季节性强降雨带来的洪水导致当地社区淹没于大量的煤业废水之中。此事件对人民，野生动物，以及哈龙海湾世界自然文化遗产造成了很大的危险。
锦普市已被煤灰污水彻底淹没，并且另一个社区正在进行遣散。媒体报道的新照片[1]和视频里可看见锦普市的男人，妇女，和儿童为避难而逃离家园，涉水走过被煤灰严重污染的厚厚泥水。
煤灰工业产生的大量污染含有许多种对人体及环境健康有害的物质，包括砷，硼，钡，镉，铬，铅，锰，硒，砣等重金属。
“我们必须尽快采取措施以保护越南社区和环境受围绕着哈龙海湾的燃煤发电站及其大型煤矿和煤灰储存坑的威胁，”护水者联盟清洁和安全能源行动主管唐娜•利森比女士说。
护水者联盟在美国国内外检测并记录煤灰导致的水污染以及其造成的其他影响有多年的经验。
“如果在修建的过程中不考虑到极端降雨事件的话，那煤灰储存设施不过是一个定时炸弹，”利森比女士说。
“广宁省这个仍在蔓延的灾难无疑证明，到目前为止，保护围绕着哈龙海湾的社区以及海湾本身受大量煤灰污染的工作远远不足。”
“护水者联盟对于越南政府扩大燃煤电厂使用量的计划极表关注，特别是在可以选择投资不会每年产生数百万吨污染的清洁可再生能源的时候。这种灾难本应该敲响政府的警钟。”
“气候变化只会使这种极端天气事件越来越常见。鉴于煤灰污染对人体健康和安全造成的明显危险，政府必须重新考虑开展更多煤矿并修建更多燃煤电厂的计划，”利森比女士觉得。
好的消息是，很多发达国家都在脱离煤炭，便展示没有了它，发展，环境，和气候都能够得到更良好的效果。的确，乐施澳大利亚的一份新报告支持使用可持续性能源而非煤炭。
媒体联系人：
Tina Posterli, Waterkeeper Alliance, [email protected],+1-516-526-9371 (美国)
Andrew Bradley, [email protected], +61 403 777 137
(澳大利亚)
[1] 请到WKA网站去点击照片和视频