Polluter in ISO trouble

The ISO-14000 certificate awarded to the Eternal Chemical Company (長興化工) -- the company confirmed as the source of toxic solvents dumped in a major river in southern Taiwan -- could soon be withdrawn, the Taiwan branch of Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQI, 法商法立德公證台灣分公司) said yesterday.

According to BVQI, the France-based worldwide certification body, Eternal Chemical gained its ISO-14000 award more than a year ago.

"We've investigated the case for days and have not finalized our decision whether to suspend the certificate or not," said Peter Yang (楊鴻儒), BVQI Taiwan's chief executive.

Eternal Chemical has been confirmed by prosecutors as the source of the toxic solvents discharged secretly on July 14 into the Kaoping River (高屏溪) by three truck drivers hired by waste handler Shengli (昇利).

Yang said that ISO-14000 demanded that companies make investments in pollution prevention facilities.

"If Eternal cannot meet the investment requirements, the certificate will be suspended," Yang said, adding that a final decision would be announced after BVQI wraps up a comprehensive investigation.

Yang also stressed that the procedure to award the ISO-14000 certificate to Eternal was thorough.

BVQI's quick reaction to the incident was partly in response to angry reactions from environmentalists, who protested in front of the company's headquarters yesterday.

Environmentalists from the Green Formosa Front (GFF, 台灣綠色陣線) and the Green Consumers' Foundation (綠色消費者基金會) yesterday strongly urged BVQI to withdraw what they said was a questionably awarded certificate.

"Eternal's ISO-14000 certificate should be revoked because this flagrant case of pollution has challenged its credibility," said GFF's secretary-general, Joyce Fu (伏嘉捷).

"We don't want to see companies like Eternal pollute rivers on this land and get away with it by hiding under an ISO-14000 certificate," said Hsiao Pei-yu (蕭愉珮) from GFF.

Currently, more than three million residents in the Kaohsiung metropolitan area -- whose water was cut off for days after the pollution was exposed -- are still uncertain of their water quality.

Analysts in southern Taiwan yesterday warned people at a panel discussion held by the Kaoshiung City Public Affairs Management Association that tap water did not meet the standards for potable water.

At another panel discussion in southern Taiwan, Kaohsiung City Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday that the government had authorized consumer ombudsmen to file a lawsuit on behalf of residents against the Taiwan Water Supply Company (TWSC) to demand compensation.

Yu Cheng-ching (余政經), an ombudsman, suggested yesterday that TWSC pay each resident NT$120,000.

But TWSC officials snubbed Yu's idea immediately, saying that the quality of tap water met the standards for drinking water.