The fate of a proposed garbage incinerator in Changhua County should be decided by the newly elected commissioner, residents and environmentalists say.
A handful of protesters took to the streets yesterday, demanding that outgoing KMT Commissioner Juan Kang-meng (阮剛猛) leave the decision on whether the plant should go forward to his successor, the DPP's Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠).
Wong takes office on Dec. 20. Government officials yesterday had no comment on whether Juan would make a decision on the incinerator before then.
Protesters yesterday said the planned Changpei waste incinerator -- which would have the capacity to treat 800 tonnes of household waste daily -- would threaten cattle and dairy farms just 1.5km away.
Dairy farmers are worried that dioxin emissions from the incinerator may harm their livestock.
"The milk produced by cows fed polluted forage is also damaging to consumers' health," said Chiu Chuang-chin (
Although farmers and environmentalists voiced their concerns over the incinerator before the local council in May, that didn't slow down the project.
Now residents and environmentalists hope that a DPP county commissioner may be more sympathetic to their concerns.
Chiu, the former head of Changhua's Environmental Protection Union, said yesterday he hoped to persuade Wong to adopt a waste-handling strategy that emphasizes recycling.
Changhua produces an estimated 1,280 tonnes of waste daily, handled mostly by the county's landfill and an incinerator with a 900-tonne daily capacity.
But through recycling efforts, Chiu said, the amount of waste generated by county residents is falling -- not rising.
Through programs that promote recycling and collecting leftover food, Changhua could reduce its waste to less than 1,000 tonnes daily in five years, the incoming lawmaker said.
"Under the circumstances, we might only need the Shichou waste incinerator," Chiu said.
According to environmentalists' unofficial estimates, capacity at the county's two incinerators -- the 900-tonne Shichou facility and a 30-tonne plant -- is running at about 50 percent. On some days, they say no waste is burned at all, calling into question the need for a new incinerator.
According to the government's statistics, Changhua's 900-tonne waste incinerator treated an average of 720 tonnes of garbage daily in April, about 80 percent of its capacity.
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