On the afternoon of May 13, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Kien Giang province had the first official report on the phenomenon of large-scale mass deaths of fish, clams, oysters, shrimp, crabs... in Ha Tien Bay, Ha Tien town and Kien district. Luong Kien Giang province. According to the report, up to this point the total number of dead fish is 14,000, including 3 types: 10,000 groupers, 1,000 cobia, and 3,000 seabass. The total affected clam and oyster farming area (damage of 50% or more) is up to 558 hectares. The scope of damage stretched over 30km from To Chau bridge in Ha Tien town to Binh An commune in Kien Luong district.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environment took 10 water samples on May 8 and 9 for analysis to evaluate and find the active ingredients causing the mass fish deaths. Of these, 7 samples were analyzed at the laboratory of the monitoring center under the department, 3 samples were transferred to Centema applied research center for technology and environmental management. Analysis results of 7 samples from the monitoring center show that 7 analytical indicators are within the allowed standards according to QCVN 10-MT:2015/BTNMT on coastal sea water. Particularly, NH4 and Coliform indicators at the middle of Tam Ban canal near the discharge gate of the shrimp farming area of Trung Son Joint Stock Company exceeded environmental standards 3.6 times and 11 times. For samples analyzed at Centema's laboratory, 17 basic indicators in seawater and 2 indicators on pesticides were assessed to be within allowed standards. Particularly, the surfactant index (which is not included in the standard 10-MT:2015/BTNMT) shows signs of being higher than normal.
Currently, Kien Giang Department of Natural Resources and Environment is waiting for the results of analyzing phytoplankton indicators and the results of gas chromatography to determine the origin of the surfactant. At the same time, the department is also investigating to find the source of waste containing surfactants. Kien Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development also coordinated with the Aquaculture Research Institute 4 to collect sediment samples, dead seafood samples, and seawater samples. These results are expected to be available on May 15. According to an expert, the types of surfactants according to the above analysis results are often used in many industries such as textile dyeing, food, cosmetics, printing, pesticide processing, construction. construction (increasing the hardness of concrete), petroleum and mineral industry (foaming to enrich minerals). It is known that in the area where mass seafood deaths occurred, there are 2 aquaculture companies and at least 3 cement factories.
Source: Khoa Nam (Youth)