An international seminar entitled “Sharing Experience on the Assessment and Removal of Dioxin Pollution and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Viet Nam” is taking place in Da Nang on 2 and 3 December 2013.  In addition to sharing the experience, the event is an appeal for more foreign organisations to become actively involved in helping Viet Nam to handle this issue.

Begun in July 2010, the “Removal of Dioxin Contamination at Dioxin Hotspots in Viet Nam” project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Presentation by a foreign expert at the seminar

To date, 7,500 cubic metres of excavated contaminated soil and sediment at Binh Dinh Province’s Phu Cat Airport have been buried.  At Dong Nai Province’s Bien Hoa Airport, 94,000 cubic metres of dioxin contaminated soil have already been buried.  About 300,000 cubic metres of contaminated soil and sediment, however, have yet to be dealt with at Bien Hoa.

From 2014 - 2016, the US TerraTherm's In-Pile Thermal Desorption (IPTD) technology will be used to incinerate 72,900 cubic metres of excavated contaminated soil and sediment at the Da Nang International Airport.  The 1^st phase of the project, which focuses on incinerating 43,000 cubic metres of contaminated soil, is scheduled to be completed in 2014, whilst the 2^nd phase for about 40,000 cubic metres is planned to be completed in 2016.  The project will cost around 84 million USD which is being funded by GEF and UNDP, with about 1.7 million USD from the Vietnamese government’s own budget.