Environmental groups yesterday criticized the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) for its reluctance to pursue criminal cases against industrial polluters accused of dumping toxic mercury-tainted waste in Pingtung County.
Last Friday, long-term negotiations between the Pingtung County Government and Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑) resulted in an agreement between both sides to share the costs of cleaning up an illegal waste dump in Hsinyuan (新園) township, where significant amounts of toxic mercury-tainted sludge was discovered in 1999. The agency also signed on to the NT$240 million cleanup-project agreement as a party.
The government agrees to pay NT$90 million, while Formosa pays the remaining NT$150 million.
Legislators and environmentalists yesterday criticized the EPA for its lack of courage in tackling influential companies.
"The EPA should have not made the notorious pollution event a precedent to be followed by other industrial polluters," Green Formosa Front chairman Wu Tung-jye (
The waste was secretly dumped by a bogus waste handler, Yuntai, that contracted with Formosa. Since February 2000, the Pingtung County Government has intended to carry out an administrative disciplinary action for Formosa, which refused to obey and filed a lawsuit against the local authority. Formosa, since then, had declined to confirm its relationship with the waste.
In 2001, the Control Yuan concluded that the waste was originally generated by Formosa, and censured related bodies, including the EPA and local governments.
To save administrative cost, the Kaohsiung High Administrative Court had encouraged the parties to come to an arrangement.
Eric Liou (
"The EPA's behavior shows the lack of environmental justice and the government's dignity," Liou said.
Liou argued that the EPA should punish related parties according to the Soil and Ground-water Pollution Remediation Act (土壤及地下水污染整治法) without spending a cent.
Legislators said that Formosa Group chairman Wang Yung-ching (
"At this moment, we'd like to see Formosa's corporate responsibility from Wang," DPP Legislator Eugene Jao (
Jao said that the Legislative Yuan would do its best to freeze budgets pertaining to the cleanup project.
In 1998, Formosa shipped 2,700 tonnes of toxic waste to Cambodia which was improperly discarded.
In 1999, backing down to international pressure, Formosa shipped the waste -- along with 1,900 tonnes of soil it had contaminated in Cambodia -- back to Taiwan.
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
Through analyzing fossil evidence, a research team at National Taiwan University (NTU) discovered the largest endemic bird to have lived in Taiwan, naming it Pavo miejue, or extinct peafowl (滅絕孔雀). The Mikado pheasant, which is printed on the back of the NT$1,000 bank note, was previously believed to be the biggest endemic bird to Taiwan. The research team’s findings suggest that Pavo miejue lived during the Pleistocene epoch tens of thousands of years ago. It is the first endemic extinct bird species discovered and formally named in Taiwan. The study was coauthored by NTU Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修),
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to suspend its automated Skytrain service connecting Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 starting on July 1 to facilitate connection works for the upcoming Terminal 3, the airport operator said today. Passengers and staff who need to travel between the two terminals after the suspension can instead use the Taoyuan MRT or the airport's 24-hour shuttle bus service, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. The Taoyuan MRT Airport Line directly links the two terminals, while the shuttle buses are to operate around the clock, the company added. The Skytrain provides free transportation between the airport’s two terminals for travelers and
Taiwan ranked 42nd in terms of peacefulness among 163 countries, down five places from last year, according to this year’s Global Peace Index. With an overall score of 1.751, Taiwan dropped from 37th last year, the report published by the global Institute for Economics and Peace showed. The overall score measures a country’s level of peacefulness using 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators across three domains — ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. While Taiwan ranked 42nd worldwide, it was listed in ninth place among the 19 Asian-Pacific countries in the report, after New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia,
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