Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) chairman William Wong (王文淵) yesterday apologized for a fire at a plant run by group affiliate Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) in Chiayi County on Sunday.
The head of the nation’s largest private-sector enterprise addressed the apology to all Chiayi residents during a meeting at the office of Chiayi County Commissioner Chang Hwa-kuan (張花冠).
Nan Ya Plastics has launched overall safety checks and will take full responsibility, Wong said.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsun, Taipei Times
He told reporters that pending the results of an investigation, he had no idea what caused the fire.
The blaze broke out at about 8:30am on Sunday at Nan Ya’s -Chiayi Second Plant in Taibao City (太保). The factory produced a high-quality waterproof synthetic paper known as white pearl, or PEPA.
It took firefighters nearly 17 hours to extinguish the blaze. No casualties were reported.
The fire dealt another blow to the group after two fires in July at the group’s petrochemical complex in Mailiao Township (麥寮), Yunlin County.
The Chiayi County Government yesterday put together a panel of experts to evaluate damage caused by the latest fire and handle residents’ complaints.
At a news conference before meeting Wong, Chang said the fire was a “serious industrial safety incident” that caused severe air pollution in the county, which is one of the major agricultural areas in the nation.
Anyone who suffered a loss because of the pollution would have an opportunity to present evidence and if a loss could be proven, the panel would help people claim compensation from Nan Ya, Chang said.
Experts were also asked to determine whether the fire affected the quality of water, air or soil in the county, she said.
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said it had collected samples of black-colored rain believed to have been caused by the fire, adding that the report of its analysis was scheduled to come out within a week.
Hsieh Yein-rui (謝燕儒), director of the EPA’s Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Department, said it suspected the rain was polluted by carbon residue caused by incomplete combustion. Aside from determining the cause of the black-colored rain by analyzing the chromaticity and particulates in the polluted rain, Hsieh said technicians at the agency would also look for heavy metals.
Hsieh said Nanya was fined NT$1 million (US$31,950), as the fire produced an unbearable stench in nearby areas.
“The standard value of odor stated as prescribed by law is 50, but the odor detected on location was 229, four times the standard value,” Hsieh said. “Because of the stench, Nanya was fined NT$1 million.”
Hsieh said Chiayi County’s Environmental Protection Bureau monitored air quality near the Nanya plant and found that it contained particulates of 85 micrograms per cubic meter of air after the fire erupted, which was higher than that detected on -regular days.
However, the amount did not exceed the standard value stated in regulations, he said.
The bureau also monitored the air quality in Singang (新港), Chiayi City and Puzih (朴子) on Sunday morning, finding that the density of sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide in Singang surged from four parts per billion (ppb) to 16ppb. Hsieh said the phenomenon lasted about an hour and the density of the two substances had both now dropped to regular levels.
Hsieh said the bureau would continue monitoring air quality in Chiayi, adding that Nanya may be punished further if it is determined that the company did not follow the terms stated in the pollution source operating permit.
In the wake of the incident, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said it has drawn up a cooperation plan with other agencies, including the EPA, to monitor the operations of the nation’s petrochemical industry.
The plan will be implemented immediately if approved by the Executive Yuan, the officials said, adding that FPG petrochemical factories would likely be the first target because of public concern.
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
ELITE UNIT: President William Lai yesterday praised the National Police Agency’s Special Operations Group after watching it go through assault training and hostage rescue drills The US Navy regularly conducts global war games to develop deterrence strategies against a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, aimed at making the nation “a very difficult target to take,” US Acting Chief of Naval Operations James Kilby said on Wednesday. Testifying before the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, Kilby said the navy has studied the issue extensively, including routine simulations at the Naval War College. The navy is focused on five key areas: long-range strike capabilities; countering China’s command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting; terminal ship defense; contested logistics; and nontraditional maritime denial tactics, Kilby
RSS