Golf course chemicals may pollute water

Update: 11/05/2009
Viet Nam has failed to adequately regulate environmental pollution from golf courses, said Tran Ngoc Hung, the chairman of the Viet Nam Construction Association. Hung said many experts blamed the development of golf courses on agriculture land for pollution, but there was no research to confirm the claims.

"Unsystematic development and not working with other sectors have caused us to fail to control it," Hung said during a seminar on golf course construction in Ha Noi on Wednesday.

Le Van Thien, a lecturer from the Ha Noi University of Natural Sciences, said golf course owners used three key chemicals, including chlorpyrifos, diazinon and isazofos, to maintain grass colour and boost growth.

Thien said the chemicals could soak into underground water, causing environment pollution and affecting human health.

Spraying of the chemicals would directly affect players and workers at the courses.

Dang Van Dam, a member of Viet Nam Environment Association, said golf course owners used about 1.5 tonnes of chemicals annually to boost grass growth, which is three times the level used for cultivation in the same area.

Dam cited Xuan Huong Lake in Da Lat City as an example. It receives waste water from Doi Cu Golf Course.

"Although the golf course’s waste water has been treated and is not directly discharged into the lake, the water pollution increased with algae harmful to human health and the environment."

Part of the pollution came when rains flowed off the course and took urea fertiliser, used to boost grass growth, into the lake, said Dam.

Pham Manh Thong, deputy head of the Environment Police Department’s Division 3, said almost all golf course projects had not reported on the likely environmental impact before developing the courses.

This leads to a lack of firm commitments to implement ways to reduce environment pollution.

Lack of planning

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development statistics show there are 114 golf course projects in Viet Nam. Only 20, covering 15,000ha, were purely for golf. The remainder combined trade with real-estate and tourism services.

There were 76 projects covering a total of 23,832ha, of which nearly 10,000ha was agriculture land.

Professor Ton Gia Huyen, from the Viet Nam Land Science Association, said there were about 5,000 golfers in Viet Nam.

An area of nearly 50,000ha for such a number was a waste, while its economic value was unclear.

Viet Nam suffered from a lack of overall planning and State management that had caused land waste, said Huyen.

Le Huy Hoang, deputy director of the Long Thanh Golf Course in Dong Nai Province, said golf was developing and had actively contributed to society. Misunderstandings exist about the industry.

"Long Thanh golf course created 1,200 jobs for local people but also became a place where people exchanged culture and contributed by attracting investment."

Hoang said relevant sectors needed to inspect and issue concrete criteria to evaluate the efficiency of golf courses.

The construction association said several courses had paid considerable attention to sustainable development demands in rural area and avoided using agriculture land for their projects. They included the Long Thanh course in Dong Nai Province where there is highly saline levels from sea water.

The Van Tri course in Ha Noi’s Dong Anh District was built from a fallow bog where rice yields were low while the Chi Linh, Luong Son and Tam Dao courses were developed on hills.

Source: VietNamNet/Viet Nam News