HCMC – Seventy-four suspects have been charged in a nationwide probe into environmental monitoring data manipulation, with nearly 160 stations found to have been tampered with to conceal pollution, investigators said.
The suspects are individuals from 59 businesses responsible for industrial discharge as well as firms installing monitoring equipment, alongside officials from state environmental management bodies.
The investigation was led by the Department of Environmental Crime Prevention and Control (C05), working with the Office of the Investigative Police Agency (C01) under the Ministry of Public Security.
Under regulations, large industrial facilities, including coal-fired power plants such as Quang Ninh, Haiphong and Thai Binh 2, as well as aluminium and steel firms, were required to install automatic monitoring systems at discharge points, but data transmitted to environmental authorities were manipulated, police said.
Although the monitoring devices were sealed and fitted with dedicated surveillance cameras, they were still remotely altered via software. Suspects adjusted the readings downward to ensure data sent to authorities stayed within permitted limits.
C05 investigators found nearly 160 environmental monitoring stations had been tampered with and data falsified, accounting for about 55% of the nationwide total.
