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 >>  Pesticide maker closed for dumping toxic waste The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment sent three officers to central Thanh Hoa Province to direct the excavation of expired chemicals and pesticides dumped by Nicotex Thanh Thai Joint Stock Company.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment sent three officers to central Thanh Hoa Province to direct the excavation of expired chemicals and pesticides dumped by Nicotex Thanh Thai Joint Stock Company.

When the provincial environment department began the excavation on Friday, many expressed concern that the chemicals would be even more toxic when exposed to air.

However, in order to deal with the dumped waste, authorised agencies have to know how much there is as well as its exact contents, Deputy Minister Tran Hong Ha said at a meeting on Tuesday.

"The company failed to tell us what they dumped, so we were forced to excavate the expired chemicals and pesticides even though we know that they are highly toxic," he said.

The provincial People's Committee submitted to the ministry two technologies previously applied in the US and Canada to treat the expired chemicals and pesticides, which the ministry then submitted to the Government office, according to Hoang Van Chuc, Chief of the Secretariat of the ministry's Vietnam Environment Administration.

Deputy Minister Ha said that the treatment would be determined after the authorised agencies finished identifying the level and scale of pollution.

Compensation for local residents affected by dumped toxic chemicals and pesticides will be published after the Ministry of Public Security releases the results of its official investigation, Ha said.