While the government has announced plans to speed up construction of private power plants under the post-earthquake emergency decree issued on Sept. 25, environmentalists presented a petition yesterday to the Control Yuan claiming that the simplified administration processes allowed by the decree could cause future environmental problems.
Several groups, including the Taiwan Greenpeace organization (
To deal with power supply problems caused by the 921 earthquake, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has allowed companies to speed up construction of at least four power plants in northern Taiwan, including the controversial Ever Power plant in Taoyuan County.
Taoyuan residents have long protested the possible environmental impact the plant may have. Some have voiced concerns about nuclear radiation and potential ill-affects from exposure to electromagnetic fields generated by high-voltage transmission wires.
"Officials have agreed to allow work to be speeded up on these power plants without taking into account the concerns of local residents over the possible long-term negative environmental impact. This has really made us angry," Greenpeace activist Lin Sheng-chung (
"If officials are allowed to do things like this, what kind of future will people on Taiwan face? We are seeing more and more unnecessary power plants, waste disposal sites and industrial parks that are serious polluters. These facilities are being built without first conducting comprehensive environmental impact studies," Lin said.
Environmentalists said a similar controversial case was a proposed private power plant (
Other activists said they were concerned about the safety of proposed waste disposal sites in disaster areas in central Taiwan.
"If waste handlers can receive licenses so easily under the protective umbrella of the emergency decree, who can ensure the safety of local residents? People have the right to present their own opinions and also have the right to reject the simplified environmental impact assessment process," Hsu Hsin-hsin (許心欣), an environmentalist from the protection union, said.
Responding to these com-plaints, officials from the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday that most of the waste generated in disaster areas is non-nuclear in nature -- such as concrete, reinforcing bars and other non-hazardous refuse (from destroyed buildings).
But officials said impact studies would be required if proposed waste disposal sites are larger than two hectares in flat locations and five hectares in mountainous areas.
"In disaster areas, if construction licenses are issued by the central government, we will process a simplified impact study by skipping the initial steps which include collecting land usage history and reviewing environment-related information. Instead, we will make an evaluation by reading the conclusions provided by builders," Ni Shih-liao (倪世標), the director-general of the EPA's Bureau of Comprehensive Planning, said.
Ni stressed that the EPA had not only reviewed all impact study reports since the 921 earthquake, but had also given this information to builders of projects such as the Juifeng Dam (瑞豐水庫) near a newly formed reservoir, Tsaoling Lake (
"We mentioned to the builders that, because of the earthquake, special considerations must be taken in taking into account environmental impact assessments," Ni said.