Help the Vietnamese people to prevent environmental disaster in Ha Tinh province, Central Vietnam

White House | Apr 26, 2016

Ha Tinh province is home to an economic zone which covers numerous industrial plants, including a multi-billion dollar steel plant run by Formosa conglomerate.

Tonnes of fish, including rare species which live far offshore and in the deep, have been discovered on beaches along the country’s central coastal provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Quang Binh and Hue.

People suspects that the sewage with harmful chemicals released from the steal plants contaminates the coastline causing massive fish deaths along the country’s central coast in recent days.

We the People ask the Federal Government help the people of Vietnam by providing independent Environmental Impact Assessment of the Steel Plant and President Obama to raise the issue with Vietnamese Government in May 2016 visit.

A response to your petition on the fish crisis in Central Vietnam:

Thank you for signing this petition on the fish crisis in Central Vietnam.

We express our deep sympathy to the people of Vietnam’s central coastal provinces as they work to overcome the recent loss of fish stocks and the effects on their livelihoods.

As Vietnam addresses this environmental crisis, the U.S. Government stands ready to help. Ambassador Osius has reached out directly to senior Vietnamese government officials to offer our assistance in this manner, and our two governments are discussing potential areas of cooperation.

Public participation is a key part of addressing environmental challenges. Similar to our experience in the United States, we encourage the Vietnamese government to increase cooperation with civil society and environmental NGOs, which can help communities affected by such crises, ensure accountability and transparency in the clean-up effort, and help to design policies to prevent future problems.

During his May 22-25 visit to Vietnam, President Obama engaged directly with Vietnamese government, business, and civil society leaders, as well as students and entrepreneurs. As President Obama stated:

“When citizens are free to organize in civil society, then countries can better address challenges that government sometimes cannot solve by itself.”

Environmental cooperation is an important element of the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership. During the President’s trip to Vietnam, the United States and Vietnam launched the U.S.-Vietnam Climate Partnership, which will help our two countries implement the historic Paris Agreement. We are supporting environmental conservation efforts that bring together government, business, and civil society, such as the Ha Long-Cat Ba Alliance, to protect Vietnam’s national treasures.

We will also reinforce our shared commitments to the world’s marine life through the high environmental standards set by the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, which has the most robust enforceable environment commitments of any trade agreement in history.

Thanks again for speaking out.

— We the People Team