The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday ordered the Changhua County Government to retract its decision to revoke an operating license for Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp’s (FCFC, 台灣化學纖維) Changhua plant, saying the county should find other laws to back its decision.
The company’s Changhua plant in October last year filed an application to continue operations of three boiler units, but was turned down by the county government on the grounds that the application had exceeded application dates. The company filed a petition with the EPA, which was debated yesterday by the administration’s appeals committee.
EPA Deputy Minister Thomas Chan (詹順貴) said the committee concluded that the administration must order the county to cancel its revocation, while rejecting the company’s appeal for the EPA to recognize the license’s validity.
Photo: Chang Hui-wen, Taipei Times
EPA officials said the plant may resume operations, as the decision to revoke the county’s ruling meant that the plant was still in the process of applying for an extension, which means the existing license is still valid.
Formosa Chemicals said it has no plans to reopen the 51-year-old plant, despite the license’s validity, and would seek compensation from the county for financial losses.
“We still need to discuss more details with lawyers to make sure that Formosa Chemicals will not breach laws,” company vice chairman Hong Fu-yuan (洪福源) told a press conference in Taipei. “The actual losses at the plant are still being assessed, but the figure will be astronomical, considering maintenance and labor costs.”
The shutdown from October last year through January caused losses of nearly NT$3.2 billion (US$103.1 million), the company said at an earnings conference last month.
Asked about the issue of compliance with emission standards, Hong said that the company would meet the county’s requirements if the renewal is approved.
The county government last year attributed the rejection to the company’s failure to adhere to a coal standard it had promised to meet, saying at the time that the company should apply for a new permit instead of a renewal.
A company official, who declined to be named, said the company will not take any substantial steps ahead of the county’s decision on the renewal of its existing permits.
“The county government should decide to accept or reject our permit renewal applications in two months after the EPA’s decision,” he said.
The legal battle might be prolonged if the county government were to insist on rejecting the renewal, the official said.
Formosa Chemicals is the nation’s largest aromatic hydrocarbon supplier, with an annual capacity of more than 1.3 million tonnes of polystyrene.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from