Tonnes of hazardous chemicals excavated                                    An initial excavation found that tonnes of hazardous chemicals had been dumped surreptitiously byNicotex Thanh Thai Joint Stock Company in Thanh Hoa Province, but the total quantity of untreated pesticides is believed to be much higher.    Excavation close to the company’s thermal tank  As of October 22, excavations have been conducted over the past 10 days at four areas in which it is believed Nicotex Thanh Thai Joint Stock Company dumped untreated hazardous chemicals in Cam Van Commune. At the first area, close to the company’s thermal tank, excavators found over three tonnes of liquid chemicals, 5.4 tonnes of mud and over 2.4 tonnes of contaminated soil. The figures are much higher than the 380 kilos of dumped chemicals earlier declared by the company.   Intact pesticide packs and bottles  Excavators also found a lot of discarded chemical bottles and packets, many of which were intact. The excavation team is now excavating the fourth area where local residents detected several stained barrels that possibly contain hazardous chemicals. They initially found several covers of these barrels as well as discarded pesticide packets and bottles.   Detected discarded pesticide barrels and packs Previously, they also discovered an additional 10 tonnes of toxic chemicals kept in substandard conditions at the company’s store. They also found 70 packets, containing a combined 2,335 kilos of pesticides as well as a lot of contaminated concrete, bricks, stones and soil. This is solid evidence that the company dumped hazardous chemicals and contaminated the environment. Relevant agencies are continuing to excavate the suspected sites to apply measures to deal with this environmental pollution.   Collection of hazardous chemicals On October 22, a DTiNews reporter went to the company's headquarters to report on the excavation situation and was promptly banned from entering the premises despite showing his press card. Nguyen Duc Quyen, Vice Chairman of Thanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee said, “Journalists should be allowed to enter this site if they provide a press card.” However, Nguyen The Manh, from the provincial police’s Environment Police Division, still refused the journalist entry to the site.   Excavation going on  After being found guilty of dumping the aforementioned untreated chemicals, the company was fined only VND421 million (USD20,000). Despite causing serious environmental pollution and arousing strong public criticism, the case has yet to be brought to court. By Duy Tuyen | dtinews.vn