The department’s announcement comes in the wake of increasing pollution in the irrigation networks, which has affected agricultural production and public health.

The DNRE said water from three of the city’s 15 industrial and processing zones, including Tan Tao, Le Minh Xuan and Tan Phu Trung, was polluting Ranh Long An and Thay Cai canals.

"The department will set up water quality measure stations for the three industrial parks, and then expand to all 15 parks to control water quality," Nguyen Van Phuoc, vice director of the DNRE, said. The municipal committee has asked all districts, the DNRE, and the management board of industrial and processing zones to tighten control over water quality in industrial production. "All single enterprises and industrial parks will be reviewed, and from this database, along with regular investigations, the city will eliminate polluting enterprises," he said.

Phuoc said industrial water from the upstream provinces of Tay Ninh and Long An had worsened the situation. "The municipal DNRE will work with Tay Ninh and Long An provincial authorities to conduct inspections," Phuoc said.

Forty enterprises located downtown have been defined as polluting by the city, but have still not moved to the outskirts of the city.

Many of the city’s 15 industrial parks have no water treatment system, while others who do, save costs by not operating them regularly.

Industrial parks

Twenty-seven businesses have been fined a total of VND306 million (US$17,000) for polluting the environment, following an investigation by Dong Nai Province’s Natural Resources and Environmental Department last Friday.

Phan Van Het, deputy director of the department, said 13 of the businesses were located in industrial parks, including Bien Hoa 1, Song May, Ho Nai and Bau Xeo. Het said that authorities of Dinh Quan District closed parts of AB Mauri Viet Nam Ltd’s factory, after finding evidence of pollution.

In Binh Duong Province, the Natural Resources and Environmental Department and environment police bureau made an unannounced visit to MDF Viet Nam Joint-Stock Co in Ben Cat District.

The investigation team discovered that the company had not installed a treatment system for waste water, smoke or dust, despite receiving stiff fines. The province ordered MDF, a plywood and melamine hardboard producer, to cease production.

Untreated wastewater from MDF had been poured directly into Thi Tinh River, which had also been heavily polluted by untreated waste water from San Miguel Pure Food Ltd Co on July 24.

Authorities are pursuing an investigation to discover other polluters.

Nguyen Duc Tien, head of the district’s An Dien Commune’s security force, said local residents had told him that MDF had been releasing untreated waste water in the river for two years.

The district authority had fined MDF VND31 million ($1,700) in November last year and VND30 million in May for operating without a waste water treatment system, but the company did nothing.