More than 10,000 environmental violations have been discovered over the last three years, according to the Ministry of Public Security. Col. Luong Minh Thao, deputy director of the National Environmental Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security, said the number of cases in 2009 was nearly half of the total in three years from 2007 to 2009, at 4,500.
"Awareness of environmental protection and investment in waste treatment among enterprises is still limited," he said.
"Some factories have their waste management systems operate only when inspectors come to check the sites.
"The impacts of such actions are felt by rivers the most, badly polluting rivers like the Hong, Nhue, Day, Cau, Dong Nai and Thi Vai rivers."
According to the department, the case of the Thi Vai River was the most prominent and serious, with the VND127 billion (US$13.1 million) environmental fees that Taiwanese monosodium glutamate producer Vedan Viet Nam had to pay for polluting it.
The highest fine levied in other cases was just VND100 million ($5,000), Thao said.
Thao said the Vedan case was a warning that enterprises had to pay much more attention to environmental protection and equip their factories with proper waste treatment systems.
Three other serious environmental problems facing the country were air pollution around industrial parks; inadequate treatment of hospital waste; and dangers posed by importing waste from other countries to recycle.
The environment police has authority to fine violators by up to VND500 million ($25,000), but they have no right to take further punitive measures like impounding equipment and/or vehicles and detaining people.