The Con Quan rubbish dump, about one kilometer from Thanh Hoa City’s center, has been affecting residents in wards Phu Son, Dong Tho, Dong Tan and Dong Linh for the last several years.

However, the situation has become more serious as the “mountain of rubbish” has grown excessively, becoming “unbearable” for the local residents.

The rubbish dump is separated from the nearby residential quarters only by several canvas sheets. The locals have to breathe the terrible smell from the rubbish dump all day.

Le Thi Huong in Dong Linh commune complained that crops had failed repeatedly for many years because of the dirty black water leaked from the rubbish dump.

Nguyen Thi Tuat in Phu Son Ward said she has to close the doors and windows all day to prevent the bad odor from coming. However, this does not help much and Tuat regularly has to wear a protective mask while sleeping.

The Ben Huong rubbish dump is the most notorious in Nghe An province. It was set up without advance planning by local people in 1991, receiving three to five tons of rubbish every day.

Hundreds of households are locateed nearby the dump, which emits dirty water and bad odors.

“Hundreds of graves nearby are surrounded by rags, plastic bags and balloon waste. The people are attacked by flies and have to take meals in mosquito nets,” said Phan Thi Huong in Hoa Hieu Ward.

“The dumping ground is also a threat to the Khe Buoi dam, just 10 meters away, which provides irrigating and running water to hundreds of people in Thai Hoa town.

In Vinh City, the Dong Vinh rubbish dump, covering an area of six hectares and receiving 200 tons of rubbish every day still continues to poison the environment, even though it was forced to shut down three years ago.

While the rubbish dump officials stopped operations in 2011, hundreds of thousands of tons of rubbish have been left untreated.

Hundreds of local households once leapt for joy when hearing that the local authorities had agreed to shut down the rubbish dump.

However, they rejoiced in vain because the rubbish was left untreated.

Nguyen Van Cuong, a local resident, said competent agencies, when deciding to shut down the rubbish dump, promised to treat all the waste left on the ground. However, nothing has been done over the last three years.

“We are afraid that the water from the rubbish dump will soak into the underground water and pollute water resources,” he said.

Although they live near the river, the 600 households in Ky Anh town of Ha Tinh province have always needed water. The problem is that they live near a large rubbish dump, which has existed for 10 years, receiving 30 tons of garbage every day. The rubbish dump also pollutes the Tri River with its waste water.