Monosodium glutamate maker Vedan Vietnam must be suspended for flouting environmental laws and asked to pay an environmental fee of over VND127 billion (US$7.6 million), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment decreed Tuesday.
The ministry concluded that the Taiwanese firm’s violations had been systematic, long-lasting, and repeated, causing serious environmental pollution.
The ministry asked the Dong Nai Province People’s Committee to close down Vedan’s operations until the company takes measures to comply with environmental regulations. The firm had been caught last month discharging untreated waste into the environment.
Along with the environmental fee, Vedan has to pay a fine totalling VND267.5 million (US$16,000) within a month and safeguard the interests of its employees likely to be affected by suspension of its operations.
The ministry gave the company six months to clean up the environmental damage it has caused.
It also has one month to dismantle the underground drainage system and pumping facilities it has used to release wastewater into the Thi Vai River in Dong Nai.
Vedan had been found committing 12 major violations of environmental regulations -- including discharging 10 times more wastewater than allowed, releasing wastewater directly into the Thi Vai without treatment, and failure to pay environmental protection fee to official agencies.
But the ministry clarified that Vedan’s acts were not serious enough to warrant criminal prosecution.
