An explosion and fire at CPC Corp, Taiwan’s (CPC, 台灣中油) refinery in Taoyuan’s Gueishan District (龜山) early yesterday morning did not cause major air pollution, as most pollutants were quickly carried away by strong wind or washed away by rain, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said.
Soon after the fire, the EPA Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control arrived to sample key pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOC) and PM2.5 — fine particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers or less — but no apparent surge in airborne pollutants was detected, department Director-General Tsai Hung-teh (蔡鴻德) said.
While neighborhoods to the plant’s southwest are more susceptible to pollution due to northeasterly winds, the pollution from the explosion there remained limited because the combustion of diesel fuel was complete and most pollutants were diffused early in the combustion process, Tsai said.
Following the morning’s events, the Taoyuan Department of Environmental Protection fined the plant NT$1 million (US$34,305), as the explosion was in breach of Article 31 of the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法), department head Shen Chih-hsiu (沈志修) said in a press release.
At 8:55 am, the VOC concentration at the site of the explosion was 1.7 parts per million (ppm), which is lower than the permitted standards for toluene and xylene at gas stations — 100ppm, he said, adding that a flame ionization detector was used to perform the measurement.
The VOC concentration had dropped since the time of the measurement, the department added.
The Ministry of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it ordered the company to halt operations at the refinery and that it could only resume operations after an improvement plan is approved by the ministry.
Startled by the early-morning explosion, Bianjhou Borough (汴州) Warden Yang Hsin-kun (楊鑫坤) and local residents later protested near the refinery, demanding that the government relocate the plant as it promised in 2004.
Many explosions have occurred at the refinery since 2003, yet the utility still had no emergency measures in place, Yang said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers representing the municipality demanded that the utility re-examine its operational management and present a plan to relocate the plant.
CPC vice president Ann Bih (畢淑蒨) said the company is still looking for a suitable relocation site.
Additional reporting by Lin Liang-sheng
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