The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is making an all-out effort to deal with problems caused by an oil spill that occurred in mid-January.
EPA head Hau Lung-bin (
Hau said that he was far from satisfied with the way in which the ship's agent was currently handling the wreck and that environmental officials needed to be cautious of the potential for further pollution.
There are 200 tonnes of oil and 60,000 tonnes of iron ore remaining on the half-sunk ship.
On Jan. 14, the Greek cargo ship MV Amorgos suffered a mechanical failure during bad weather and ran into submerged reefs near the Lungkeng Ecological Conservation Preservation Area (
About 1,150 tonnes of fuel oil spilled from the wreck.
Hau demanded yesterday that the agency's officials be well-prepared to take over the handling of the wreck, if the agent could not satisfy the government.
On March 1, the EPA began levying a fine of NT$1.5 million per day on the ship's agent.
Officials said the fine would not be lifted until the agent took preventive measures against any further leakage.
To avoid being fined, the ship's agent has hired local workers to remove the oil from the wreck. However, the workers, who risk their lives to perform the task, are only able to remove 600 liters of oil per day.
Due to bad weather, the oil pumping work has been delayed for days.
According to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), the ship's agent will present a proposal on how to deal with the wreck by the end of March.
Hau has said that the environmental agency would consider getting involved to expedite the pumping of oil from the ship if necessary.
Meanwhile, deputy EPA administrator Lin Ta-hsiung (
"We will calculate the compensation in terms of environmental losses," Lin said at a press conference yesterday.
Lin added that ecological losses and the cost of ecological restoration would be considered.
Hau said yesterday that he would pick 10 thorny problems to treat as high priority matters and make improvements on them within six months. This echoes a remark he made before assuming the leadership of the agency that he would achieve results within six months.
As for the controversial issue of redoing the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, Hau reiterated his position yesterday.
"I will consider the EIA issue in accordance with the law," Hau said.
Hau also said yesterday that he was seeking a qualified candidate for the post of political deputy.
As for department heads, Hau said he would not be making any changes in the near future.
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