The incident first happened on April 4th, 2016 by a large amount of unnatural dead sea fish washed up on the Vung Ang seashore (Ha Tinh province) near the Formosa Ha Tinh Steel plant.
About two weeks later ( 20th, 2016), tons of fish carcasses covered the beaches of three other provinces next to Ha Tinh including Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien Hue. The length of the seashore directly affected by the Incident is approximately 250 km.
In May, to call for a clearer ocean and demand a transparent investigation process and compensation, the wave of collective actions spread across Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi city and the Central coastal areas.
In May and June, 7 ministries ( Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Public Security, and Ministry of Defense), the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, and 100 Vietnamese and foreign scientists investigated to find out the reasons for the incident.
On June 30th, 2016, at the National Press Conference to announce the cause of dead fish in 4 Central Provinces , the Vietnam government released the investigation conclusion was the flows of chemical impurities such as Phenol, Xyanua, and Ferrous hydroxide penetrating into the Central coastal ocean, which was discharged illegally by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel - a Taiwanese company.
On June 30th, FHS accepted 53 faults in the production process and compensated 500 million USD for the great consequences of the incident.