Spill clean-up effort runs aground

However, officials of the national park complained about the 30-day project because of the potential of damage to the coral reefs. The task force demanded Nan Feng yesterday turn in a revised project by Tuesday.

The spill is the first since the Ocean Pollution Control Act came into effect last year. As officials have struggled to deal with the case, it has tested government interdepartmental cooperation.

Former Environmental Protection Administration head Lin Jun-yi's (林俊義) taking leave in early March -- and the Control Yuan's impeachment of some officials of the administration and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications -- have not helped the recovery process.

Currently, the ministry is struggling to complete the salvage project. Meanwhile, the administration is arguing with insurers about reasonable compensation. The company reportedly intended to pay US$4.35 million for the pollution clean-up. Environmental officials estimated that that amount would only cover the expense of onshore clean-up work, but not the loss of fishery and ecological resources.

Negotiations conducted by the environmental administration have also hit snags, as the ship's insurance company has been reluctant to take any responsibility for the wreck.

The reluctance has also created a controversy over the human rights of two crew members of the MV Amorgos, who have been detained in Taiwan since January under the Ocean Pollution Control Act.

"The administration may ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contact the government of Greece to encourage the shipping company and the insurance company to face the issue," said Lin Chien-hui (林建輝), a senior specialist of the administration's Bureau of Water Quality Protection.

Chiau Wen-yan (邱文彥), a marine environmental associate professor at National Sun Yat-sen University, said that it was time to review the new act to figure out why it could not solve problems.