The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday found four Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體) employees guilty of releasing untreated industrial wastewater into an irrigation stream in Greater Kaohsiung.
The director of ASE’s K7 plant in the municipality, Su Ping-shou (蘇炳碩); the plant’s wastewater department director, Tsai Chi-hsun (蔡奇勳); and two engineers were given suspended sentences ranging from 16 to 22 months for violations of the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法).
ASE was also ordered to pay a fine of NT$3 million (US$98,700) as part of yesterday’s ruling.
Photo: Chang Chung-i, Taipei Times
Company chairman Chang Chien-sheng (張虔生) and executive vice president Lin Hsien-tang (林顯堂) were not charged, as the court determined that they had not known about the discharge of industrial wastewater from the K7 plant into the Houjin River (後勁溪) in October last year.
The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office called the ruling too lenient and “unacceptable,” adding that even if there are some minor flaws in the gathering of the evidence proving the discharge of toxic substances, such violations of the Waste Disposal Act merited much harsher punishment.
The prosecutors vowed to file an appeal to discourage other operators from committing similar violations.
Public officials and civic organizations also criticized the ruling.
Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau Director-General Derek Chen (陳金德) said he could not accept the court’s decision not to charge the company’s two top executives.
“ASE executive vice president Lin was responsible for the K7 plant’s overall operation, so how could he not know the plant’s production procedures? I do not understand how the court can say the top executives did not know about the wastewater discharges,” Chen said.
He added that the suspended sentence would not deter big companies from illegally discharging wastewater, and that he did not see why the court would hand down suspended sentences.
Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan, director Tsai Hue-hsun (蔡卉荀) also said the sentences were too lenient for such a serious crime, and would not stop future illegal activities.
“ASE is a repeat offender at polluting Houjing River. They deliberately diluted the discharge wastewater to mislead the inspectors, and have done great damage to the downstream agriculture and fishing industries,” she said.
Tsai said that because ASE’s chairman was not affected by the ruling and all the accused received suspended sentences, “this means nobody had to take responsibility for the pollution, which went on for a long time. The verdict was not in keeping with the public’s concept of social justice.”
The company said in a statement issued later yesterday that it has established warning and emergency systems for “accidental events” such as the discharge at its K7 plant, adding that it “respects the verdict” and will look into follow-up measures with lawyers after the company receives the ruling in writing.
ASE also said that it will offer legal assistance to the four employees found guilty in the case.
The K7 plant employs 5,000 workers and is part of a complex in Greater Kaohsiung’s Nanzih (楠梓) industrial district.
The factory accounts for more than 30 percent of the monthly sales at ASE Kaohsiung, the group’s flagship company, bringing in 28 percent of its total revenue.
Additional reporting by CNA
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