The content of a probe into illegal dumping activities by a waste handler in 2001 will be added to environmental education curriculums, the Environmental Protec-tion Administration (EPA) announced yesterday.
Chang Hoang-jang (
In December 2001, the THB Environment Corp (東漢邦), a licensed waste handler of hazardous industrial waste, was accused by prosecutors of dumping copper-tainted sludge on a spacious site in Yangmei (楊梅) Township in Taoyuan County.
The site, owned by Shihmen Irrigation Association (
In August 2001, environmental inspectors and the police, based on reports by area residents, publicly exposed the illegal dump site, where toxic copper-tainted sludge was discovered.
In June, the court convicted those involved in the crime.
According to the EPA, the sentence for Hu Han-nan (
In addition, THB Environment was fined NT$1.5 million.
Lou was sentenced to two-years' imprisonment and handed a NT$1 million fine.
"It's rare to see such large penalties in a case involving environmental pollution," Chen Hsien-heng (
EPA officials estimate that more than 2,000 tonnes of hazardous waste from THB was dumped at the site.
The Taoyuan County Government is demanding NT$90 million from Shihmen Irrigation Association for cleanup activities at the site.
Cleanup operations have yet to be carried out, because companies are reluctant to bid on the project. One reason is that it is suspected that the amount of hazardous waste at the site may actually exceed 2,000 tonnes, environmental officials said.
Prosecutors have now opened another investigation involving THB. In August 2001, prosecutors found 50 tonnes of old PC-boards inside a pair of shipping containers owned by the company. The containers were labeled "residue of copper compounds" and placed at transportation stations in Taipei County and Keelung County. The containers were about to be exported.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition