Torrential rains that began early yesterday have delayed a plan by the Greater Kaohsiung Government to remove any remaining flammable gas inside a damaged pipeline that is believed to have caused explosions in the city on July 31 and Aug. 1.
According to the Central Weather Bureau, 246mm of rain fell in Kaohsiung’s Ciaotou District (橋頭) between 12am and 12pm yesterday, with more than 220mm falling in both Renwu (仁武) and Dashe (大社) districts.
The heavy rain flooded the streets caved in by the explosions, including the intersection of Kaisyuan and Ersheng roads in Cianjhen District (前鎮), where the pipeline, which is believed to be owned by LCY Chemical Corp (李長榮化學), was found to have been leaking at a section that crossed a drainage culvert prior to the blasts.
Photo: CNA
Prosecutors instructed engineers on Saturday to use a steel pipe to replace a cut-off segment of the pipeline that showed damage in an effort to speed up the removal from the line of flammable gas residues, including propene — which is believed to have caused the blasts.
Last week, prosecutors ordered that the segment of the pipeline be removed for testing to see if the damage had been caused by erosion or by the explosions, which killed 30 people and injured 310.
A plastic pipe was later used to reconnect the gas line, but was unable to withstand pumping pressure. The plastic pipe was originally set to be replaced today with a steel segment, but the work was delayed by flooding.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
The Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Agency said the replacement work could not begin until the water level drops by at least 1m.
After the remaining propene, also known as propylene, in the pipe is cleared, investigators are to excavate the culvert to examine whether the pipeline suspected to be the source of the gas that led to the blasts was laid before or after the culvert’s construction, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Underground pipelines should be packed within soil or other material and should not be exposed to air — as they were at the blast site at the point where they crossed the culvert — which can overly expose pipelines to air and moisture, leading to corrosion.
If the culvert in question is found to have been built after the pipeline’s installation, the city government might be held responsible for improper construction.
Meanwhile, Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said that Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) has ordered preparations for a meeting with Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) to discuss enhancing safety in the petrochemical industry, adding that a date has not yet been decided for the two to meet.
Chen, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, said on Saturday that she would like to meet with Jiang this week to talk about the hierarchy of responsibility between the central government and local authorities for regulating undergrounds pipelines owned by petrochemical companies in Kaohsiung.
However, Chen said yesterday that the situation at the disaster zone has been exacerbated by the rain in Kaohsiung and that she will wait until the situation improves before traveling to Taipei for a meeting with Jiang.
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS