The almost one-month delay in dealing with the recent oil spill from the Greek cargo ship M.V. Amorgos has seriously damaged the precious natural environment of southern Taiwan. The head of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Lin Jun-yi (林俊義) described this calamitous event as a "natural disaster." How saddening and disappointing for the people of Taiwan! As we carefully examine the mistakes made in the incident to mitigate the harm and ensure that there is not a repeat of the tragedy, I suggest that the relevant authorities take the following action.
To prevent further damage, not only must the fuel tanks of the ship be cleaned immediately, but the tonnes of iron ore and oil still on board and then the half-sunken wreck itself must be properly removed as well. Work should proceed on the basis of solid planning and enforcement measures to integrate all available resources and efforts of relevant government units effectively. Measures to clean up the oil must be matched by efforts to protect the marine ecology to stop the spread of pollution.
Meanwhile, research institutions in Taiwan should work together to trace the spread of the pollution, and further evaluate the impact on water quality, the coastal environment and the ocean ecology. They should propose effective strategies to minimize long-term damage from the spill and build up crisis management capabilities for similar ecological disasters.
Although the Marine Pollution Prevention Law (
While the Control Yuan investigates the responsibilities of the relevant government agencies, the government must gather evidence to support its demand for compensation from the ship owner, and prove the civil and criminal liabilities of all parties involved.
To prevent a further spread of the oil, damage to the ecological conservation zones, and threats to the Third Nuclear Power Plant, four steps need to be taken.
First,the efforts of volunteer groups and government units need to be coordinated to speed up the cleaning and recovery of the local ecology.
Second, more effective methods need to be adopted to clean up the oil, extract the remaining iron ore and oil from the wreckage as soon as possible, and reduce oil residues on coastal rocks and the oil settlement on the seabed to bring about the earliest possible recovery of the local ocean ecology.
Third, ecologists and experts on all aspects of clean ups must be consulted. By learning from this incident and similar occurrences worldwide, we can formulate systems and procedures to enhance Taiwan's crisis management ability.
Fourth, the Lungkeng Ecological Preservation Area (
Tsai Hsung-hsiung is the division convener of the Sustainable Development Division at the National Policy Foundation.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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