Vietnam’s largest airport project enlists firefighter trucks to reduce dust

Do Tat Binh, deputy director of Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), on Friday said certain firefighter trucks would be dispatched from the Mekong Delta to assist with the project starting next week.

He said further that the construction site will also reduce activities at night and lower the number of vehicles during the day to limit the amount of dust being created by the construction of the new airport, slated to be Vietnam’s largest.

Binh said construction progress for the Long Thanh Airport is being hastened before the dry season arrives, which would cause even more dust to be distributed due to the dry weather and strong winds.

As several neighborhoods near the site are being affected by the dust, the main investor will cooperate with local authorities to provide support to households severely impacted by the problem. The budget for this will be derived from ACV’s a social security fund.

Vo Tan Duc, deputy chairman of the Dong Nai People’s Committee, said the dust not only affects people living in Long Thanh District, but also in regions dozens of kilometers away, such as Nhon Trach and Bien Hoa.

Air quality surveys conducted at the Long Thanh Airport construction site from April to October 2022 revealed a dust contamination level 20 times higher than environmental standards permit, according to the Dong Nai Department of Natural Resources and Environment. A team of inspectors from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment have been dispatched to Dong Nai to investigate the situation.

The Long Thanh Airport project spans 5,000 ha and has an expected investment capital of around VND336.63 trillion ($14.3 billion). The first phase of the project includes construction of a runway, a terminal and accompanying infrastructure, with a capacity for 25 million visitors a year. The project is expected to be completed in 2026.

An environmental impact study for the project, approved by the environment ministry in 2019, suggested several measures to reduce the dust, including building fences, hosing down areas where construction materials are kept and cleaning vehicles leaving the site.