A report released by the Environ-mental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday confirms that waste at closed illegal factories for refining and smelting metals along the Erjen River (
To prevent an environmental catastrophe because of the dangerous waste, EPA officials ordered that the factories' owners dispose of the waste within one week of receiving notification from the local government.
EPA officials said yesterday that seven out of 20 samples collected at closed factories in Tainan contained illegal amounts of hazardous heavy metals, such as lead and copper, which far exceeded national standards.
More than 1,000 times the acceptable level of lead was found in one sample.
Waste containing heavy metals is not worth refining but it is necessary to properly dispose of it for the sake of public health.
According to the Waste Disposal Act, smelters are obligated to clean up waste left at the sites of factories that have been demolished. If they fail to do so, the government will dispose of the waste and demand clean up fees from the smelters.
In June, the EPA started to demolish 68 illegal smelting factories beside the Erjen River (
EPA officials said yesterday that they were highly suspicious that waste left on the sites of several demolished factories contained hazardous industrial waste.
For more than 20 years, the river has had a notorious reputation from pollution resulting from smelting -- the melting and separation of the different ores in scrap metal. By 1987, there were more than 100 illegal smelting factories located along the Erjen. Pollution from the factories has greatly damaged air, soil and water quality in the area.
EPA officials said yesterday that they would keep looking at other closed factories to gain a broader picture of the extent of pollution along the River.
Meanwhile yesterday, representatives of more than 1,000 unemployed workers and representatives of the owners of 11 smelting factories petitioned the Legislative Yuan because the project to demolish illegal factories has aggravated unemployment.
At a public hearing at the Legislative Yuan, DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) said that the 11 smelters operated expensive, advanced dust-collecting equipment and expected "a more comprehensive project" for the demolition of their factory, including some form of compensation.
"The EPA has to work with the Industrial Development Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs to solve the unemployment problems caused by the river treatment project," Wang said. He said, however, that the 11 smelters, like all of the others, would not be entitled to compensation since they were illegal operations.
The 11 smelters said they needed more time to continue to refine aluminum, which they said accounted for 30 percent of their waste.
The EPA declined the request.
"We hope to assist the unemployed workers with jobs relating to the collection of leftovers and household garbage," said Chang Hoang-jang (張晃彰), head of the the EPA's central Taiwan division.
EPA officials promised the petitioners that negotiations about work would be carried out with local governments. The first meeting will be held in Tainan County next week.
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