EPA thanks Erjen River volunteers

Environmental Protection Admin-istration (EPA) head Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday expressed his appreciation to volunteers for their contributions to the inspection of the Erjen River (二仁溪).

The river is notoriously polluted by sewage from the animal husbandry industry and heavy metals discharged by plants for refining and smelting metals.

Authorized by the Tainan County Government, the Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science (嘉南藥理科技大學) has undertaken the volunteer education and training program since July. By the end of December, more than 900 residents had been trained during 12 sessions. To observe and understand the scenario of river pollution, volunteers took bamboo rafting trips along the river. Volunteers are encouraged to inspect the river independently and report anything illegal they observe.

At a ceremony held to thank volunteers working to clean up river in Tainan County yesterday, EPA head Hau expressed his appreciation to volunteers and for the cooperation of Tainan County, Kaohsiung County and Tainan City.

"Cleaning up rivers depends on not only the government but also on residents," Hau said.

Hau said he believed that newly elected local leaders would continue to work together to prevent future pollution in the Erjen River.

The basin of the Erjen River, one of the major rivers of southern Taiwan, separates the counties of Tainan and Kaoshiung and covers 350km2.

Originating in the Neimen Town-ship (內門鄉) of Kaohsiung County, the 61.2km-long river has been polluted by a diverse variety of sources, including sewage discharged from upstream pig and duck farms and industrial waste from plants for refining and smelting metals.

The Erjen River gained notoriety during the "green oyster incident" (綠牡蠣事件) of 1987, when its water became heavily contaminated by effluent containing heavy metals discharged from metal scrap smelters, which caused the river estuary's oyster population to become contaminated by copper emissions.

In 1999, chromium, copper and other heavy-metal contaminants were discovered in the river. Last year, the EPA vowed to carry out a new initiative to prevent water quality in the river from deteriorating further.

In June last year, the EPA planned to dismantle 60 illegal smelters distributed in the three counties and city by the end of June this year. The goal was achieved.

In Kaohsiung County in July, however, some illegal plants were caught resuming illegal smelting. Since then, three local governments have asked residents to volunteer as informers.

At the gathering for volunteers yesterday, Tainan County commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) said that he hoped to turn the polluted river into a second Tungshan River (冬山河) by working with neighboring counties. The Tungshan River Scenic Area is one of the most famous tourist spots in Ilan County.

Tainan City Mayor Hsu Tien-tsai (許添財) and Kaohsiung County Deputy Commissioner Kuo Tai-lin (郭泰麟) yesterday promised to EPA leader Hau to continue efforts to build an artificial wetland downstream on the Erjen River.

Pollution accidents, however, continue to occur in and around the river.

On Dec. 10, thousands of dead milk fish (虱目魚) were discovered downstream on the Erjen River. Environmentalists suspected that the odor from the river could be attributable to wastewater dis-charged by industrial zones sitting upstream.