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Vietnamese government minister says it's now safe to swim at most beaches in
four central provinces where massive fish deaths occurred more than four months
ago because of toxic chemicals released by a Taiwanese steel company.
The
online newspaper VnExpress quoted Environment Minister Tran Hong Ha as telling
a conference Monday that aquaculture is now also safe in most areas, but that
research by the Ministry of Health is needed to determine whether it's safe to
eat fish caught within 20 nautical miles (23 miles, 37 kilometers) off the
coast of the four affected provinces.
Professor
Mai Trong Nhuan, who headed a team of Vietnamese and foreign scientists
commissioned by the government to study the impact of the disaster, told the
conference that the chemicals, including cyanide and carbolic acids, are
becoming more dilute, according to VnExpress.
Nhuan
said the marine ecosystem, including coral reefs, sea grasses and other marine
resources that were seriously damaged, has begun to recover.
The
factory, owned by the Formosa Plastics Group, acknowledged in June that it was
responsible for the pollution that killed large numbers of fish off the central
Vietnamese coast, and pledged to pay $500 million to clean it up and compensate
affected people.
The
country's worst environmental disaster has devastated the fishing and tourism
industries in the region.
The
government said in a report to the National Assembly in July that the disaster
harmed the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people, including 41,000 fishermen.
An
estimated 115 tons of fish washed ashore along more than 200 kilometers (125
miles) of the central coast in April, the report said. The pollution sparked
rare protests across the country.
Formosa
Plastics's $10.6 billion steel complex in Ha Tinh province includes a steel
plant, a power plant and a deep sea port, and is one of the largest foreign
investments in Vietnam.
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