Head of Hanoi’s administration has demanded the removal of partly-burned bulb factory in late August and thorough cleanup of the site which stored liquid mercury. Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung on September 10 signed a document on relocating Rang Dong Light Source and Vacuum Flask Joint Stock Company (Rang Dong JSC) for environmental safety and implementing solutions to overcome the blaze’s consequences, local media reported.
Rang Dong JSC's warehouse after the fire. Photo: Zing
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Accordingly, Chung asked departments, the People's Committee of Thanh Xuan district and related units to urgently remedy the blaze aftermath.
Specifically, the Hanoi Police is assigned to urgently take samples for the investigation, so that Rang Dong JSC could remove the debris left by the fire, and work on cleaning the affected area could begin, ensure environmental safety.
The the document of the Hanoi People’s Committee also provides the relocation of Rang Dong factory out of the residential area.
The Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the People's Committee of Thanh Xuan district are responsible for urging and supervising the remediation work and report the results to the Hanoi People's Committee so that the cause of the fire could be determined and made public as soon as possible.
The Hanoi Sewerage Company is tasked to dredge, clean sewers and drainage systems around Rang Dong JSC’s area by September 20.
The People's Committee of Thanh Xuan district is responsible for implementing the project of dredging the drainage system from Nguyen Tuan - Nguyen Trai intersection to the To Lich River to ensure environmental sanitation and must complete the task before year end.
The Hanoi Department of Health together with the People's Committee of Thanh Xuan district will provide free checkup for kindergarteners, preschoolers and kindergarten nurturers in Ha Dinh and Thanh Xuan Trung wards.
Hanoi’s authority also requested the Ministry of Defense to support in handling environmental pollution after the warehouse fire.
A five-hour blaze that started at 6:00 pm on August 28 destroyed a third of the inventory at the 6,000-square-meter warehouse belonging to the Rang Dong JSC, a leading manufacturer of lighting products and equipment.
It is estimated that between 15.2 and 27.2 kilograms of mercury have been released into the environment when the warehouse of Rang Dong light bulb factory was ablaze, according to Hoang Van Thuc, deputy director of MONRE’s Vietnam Environment Administration.
Preliminary statistics from Rang Dong JSC showed a property damage worth around VND150 billion (US$6.45 million), equal to nearly 5% of the total asset of this company.
