Vietnam: Explosion rocks Formosa steel plant that caused toxic spill

Faith Hung and My Pham Reuters 30 May 17;

An explosion rocked Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group's new steel plant in Vietnam late on Tuesday, a day after it resumed test operations for the first time since causing one of the country's worst environmental disasters.

The so-called dust explosion was caused by the combustion of fine particles in the air as a result of an equipment malfunction, Chang Fu-ning, an executive vice president of Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, told Reuters.

The incident is likely to raise fresh concerns about the safety of the $11 billion plant although Chang said there were no casualties and it would have little impact on preparations for the launch of production.

"Our equipment which collects dust suffered an explosion. We immediately cut off the power supply for a security check. We're trying to find out what caused it," Chang told Reuters by phone.

"There was no fire, damage or casualties as a result," he said. "The test-runs are still ongoing."

The Formosa Ha Tinh Steel plant spilled toxic waste that polluted more than 200 km (125 miles) of Vietnam's coastline in 2016, devastating sea life and local economies dependent on fishing and tourism. The plant restarted on Monday after its operations were halted in the wake of the disaster.

Formosa paid $500 million in compensation to affected communities and in March said it would boost investment by about $350 million in the steel project, amid public outcry against the company and the government's handling of the spill.

The fresh investment would go into improving environmental safety measures, raise working capital, buy material and build a dry coking system.

The plant started test operations on Monday after receiving a test-run license from the Vietnamese government.

The company has said it hopes to start commercial production in the fourth quarter of this year, subject to an approval from the Vietnamese government.

(Reporting by Faith Hung in TAIPEI and My Pham in HANOI; Editing by Stephen Coates)


Formosa steel plant in Vietnam restarts after toxic spill
Mai Nguyen Reuters 29 May 17;

Formosa Plastics Group's steel plant in Vietnam restarted on Monday after its operations were halted for causing one of the country's worst environmental disasters, local media reported.

In April last year, the $11 billion Formosa Ha Tinh Steel plant accidentally spilled toxic waste that polluted more than 200 km (125 miles) of coastline, devastating sea life and local economies dependent on fishing and tourism. Taiwanese-owned Formosa paid $500 million in compensation.

Formosa has met requirements to test-run its first blast furnace, local media quoted Deputy Environment Minister Nguyen Linh Ngoc as saying.

Authorities will closely monitor the furnace and the initial result of the run will be available in 24 hours, while waste samples will be taken every five minutes, local media quoted senior environmental official Hoang Duong Tung as saying.

Formosa has addressed 52 out of 53 violations identified, Tung said, adding the company was expected to put in place a dry coking system by 2019 to replace the current wet coking system, which is cheaper but dirtier.

The Formosa incident is a sensitive topic for the Vietnamese government as it balances political stability, environmental protection and foreign direct investment, one of its key economic growth drivers. Formosa is one of Vietnam's biggest foreign investors.

Last year's spill, and the delay in addressing it, triggered rallies and an outpouring of anger not seen in four decades of Communist Party rule. People in the central provinces have continued protesting to demand more compensation.

Formosa in March said it would boost investment by about $350 million in the project to improve environmental safety measures with the hope of starting commercial production by the fourth quarter of this year.

(Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Edmund Blair and Mark Potter)