Over 20ha of crops damaged by sewage sludge in Vietnam’s Lao Cai

More than 20 hectares of paddy fields and cropland were damaged as they were submerged in sewage sludge from a copper ore processing plant in Lao Cai Province, northern Vietnam, local authorities said on Monday. Earlier, a dam failure occurred at the Ta Phoi copper ore processing plant, located in the provincial city of Lao Cai on August 8. This resulted in water and sewage sludge from the processing copper ore flooding the surrounding residential areas, waterways, and croplands. Authorities are working with 20 households in Ta Phoi Commune, whose water supply, crops, aquatic farms, and paddy fields were impacted by the dam breach. The provincial People’s Committee earlier also asked the city’s administration, the Ta Phoi Commune administration, and relevant agencies to continue to deal with the consequences of the dam breach.