Bien Hoa City contaminated with heavy dioxin
Around 250,000 cu.m of soil in Bien Hoa City, the southern province of Dong Nai, are contaminated with dioxin at levels ranging from 1,000 ppt to as high as more than 1 million ppt, it was reported at a workshop in Dong Nai on October 31.
The director of the national project on overcoming consequences of toxic chemicals used by the US army during the war in Vietnam, Le Ke Son said at least US$250 million and five years will be needed to treat all the contaminated soil. According to Son, this is the conclusion of a survey conducted by the National Steering Committee for overcoming consequences of Agent Orange/dioxin (or Committee 33 in short) in coordination with relevant ministries and agencies. The survey examined dioxin contamination at Bien Hoa Airport, a major military airbase of the US army during the war, and surrounding areas.
UNDP Deputy Country Director Bakhodir Burkhanov said since 2009, the UNDP has assisted the Vietnamese government in dealing with dioxin contamination at hotspots in the country.
Over the past five years, with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), UNDP and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) have mapped dioxin contamination at Bien Hoa Airbase to give a better understanding of its scope, level and the unique features of the contamination. Through this project, interim measuring facilities have been set up to prevent dioxin from being released to outside the airbase.
The UNDP official affirmed that dioxin contamination is the cause of many health problems, and it is important that local residents are aware of the risks that dioxin poses to their health and livelihood.
A representative from the Defence Ministry reported that the ministry has completed the containment of nearly 100,000 cubic meters of dioxin contaminated soil on 4.3 ha of land in the airport at the cost of around VND73 billion. The containment method was also used in dealing with 7,500 cubic metres of dioxin contaminated soil in Phu CatAirport in the central province of Binh Dinh.
22:43, 2025/02/21
AI in education: teachers must be key
Artificial intelligence is making its way into classrooms, changing the way teachers teach and students learn.
09:05, 2025/02/21
Hanoi residents can pay environmental sanitation fees via e-wallets
Hanoi will continue to reduce unnecessary procedures, bring more government services online and boost the use of cashless payments in the city.
21:48, 2025/02/16
Hanoi upgrades dykes for natural disaster prevention
Many sections of the dike system, which consists largely of earthen embankments, have deteriorated due to rain, flooding, and storms.
22:43, 2025/02/12
Hanoi boosts digital transformation in cadastral administration
To streamline residence management and reduce land paperwork, Hanoi is speeding up the digitization of land use rights and assets and cleaning up the city's land data.
21:16, 2025/02/06
Reviving To Lich River: Replenishing water from Red River and West lakes
Taking the water from the Red River and the West Lake to clean To Lich River is just one piece of the puzzle. Drastic actions are needed to keep the environment clean and green.
18:38, 2025/01/30
Urenco strives for a cleaner environment in Hanoi
Innovation in garbage collection vehicles is an important step in ensuring environmental sanitation, contributing to building a civilized, clean and beautiful urban area in a sustainable direction.