Environmental reports of Vietnam hydel projects found faulty

The flawed Environmental Impact Assessment done for the Song Tranh Dam hydropower plant is now being blamed for causing many tremors and quakes in Quang Nam province since last November.

It has placed the spotlight on other projects, including two hydropower dams near the Cat Tien National Park, a UNESCO-recognized world biosphere reserve in southern Vietnam.

Experts have said that the EIAs contain factual errors and have deliberately downplayed the ecological and environmental risks of the projects.

Experts say that by capitalizing on inadequate laws and lax implementation, developers of hydropower projects have managed to avoid public scrutiny, allowing dam projects to forge ahead without planners and decision-makers knowing or understanding their full implications.

Erroneous reports have been duplicated with just the name of the location changed, for all practical purposes, suggesting they are not based on local research and analysis.

In some cases, the studies have been conducted after investment licenses were issued, which goes against standard practice anywhere in the world.

Some developers were also found to have submitted reports with vague and weak sections on mitigation measures, but they have not been taken to task.

“The EIA procedures are still imperfect [in Vietnam],” said Koos Neefjes, climate change policy advisor for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Vietnam.

He said public involvement in EIAs is generally limited and the reports are communicated only to local leaders and officials.

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