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Cases / Water use · Vietnam · 2016–2017

Vietnam named a Taiwan company as the source of 2016 pollution months later

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 unclear See the gaps

Vietnam said in June 2016 that pollution from a Taiwan company had affected 200,000 people. A 2017 report put the number above 260,000 and said the state advanced compensation before the company committed 500 million dollars.

What?
Vietnam said in 2016 that pollution from a Taiwan company had affected 200,000 people; the cause had been announced months after the pollution AP (via Inquirer)
Where?
Ha Tinh province, Vietnam AP (via Inquirer)
When?
June 2016 AP report; 2017 compensation report AP (via Inquirer)
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • Vietnamese state — advanced compensation to victims before the company's 500 million dollar commitment Viet Nam News
Harmed
  • Residents affected by the pollution — more than 260,000 people were affected, according to the 2017 report Viet Nam News
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Pollution attributed to an industrial complex; the state paid victims in advance of the company's commitment Viet Nam News
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

In June 2016 AP reported that Vietnam said pollution from a Taiwan company had affected 200,000 people, and that the cause had been announced months after the pollution.

A 2017 Viet Nam News report said more than 260,000 people were affected and that nearly all victims had been paid.

According to the same report, the state advanced compensation before the company's commitment of 500 million dollars.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the company moved to a wet-quenching process without telling authorities, to cut costs; the minister called it the most serious of 53 violations; and the plant had a clean environmental record three months before the 2016 fish deaths.
    • None on record The 200,000 figure in the 2016 report and the more-than-260,000 figure in the 2017 report are not reconciled in the sources reviewed.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not state the company's financial gain from the process change.
    • Unclear Whether any company manager faced charges, and the sea area affected, are not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    2. Nearly all Formosa victims paid
      Viet Nam News · 2017

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    Hectare (ha)
    A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
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