Villagers sick of pollution, literally

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) will continue to trace the source of toxic chemicals secretly dumped in Taoyuan County's Lungtan township, where groundwater pollution has led to serious illness among local residents, officials said yesterday.

Accompanied by legislators who have been following the problem, EPA Administrator Chang Juu-en (張祖恩) yesterday inspected several polluted sites in Lingyun Village.

High-ranking officials were greeted by the hapless villagers with banners reading "Clean up polluted sites! Find the murderers!" Some villagers knelt down, begging for assistance.

"Obviously, they have suffered from serious skin diseases," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chu Fong-chi (朱鳳芝) said.

Residents in the village rely on groundwater. In June, they filed a report with the Taoyuan County Government because of an unusual odor in the groundwater.

Later, environmental officials discovered that toxic waste had been dumped in several places on a village slope.

Investigators concluded that leakage from these locations had polluted the groundwater.

Since the middle of August, owners of the land in question and other suspects have been investigated by prosecutors.

Because of the unexpected suspension of the water supply to southern Taoyuan after Typhoon Aere early last month, villagers have increased their use of groundwater for drinking.

Several villagers fell ill, suffering from asthma, headaches and rashes.

But the EPA did not test for chemicals at Lingyun until early last month.

On Sept. 17, the EPA notified residents of the test results: the pollution was caused by hazardous chemicals, including phenol and methylbenzene.

It suggested that the groundwater not be used.

Since Sept. 18, polluted areas have been covered by waterproof plastic. Officials said that this was to stop rainwater from mixing with the waste and to stop vapor from being produced and polluting the air.

The pollution won't be completely removed until the end of next month.

Yesterday, Chang stressed that the polluted site had been monitored and controlled appropriately, even though people could still smell an odor there.

"Our analysis suggests that the pollution caused by the organic chemicals might have affected one or two wells here. There are not too many people falling ill because of this pollution," Chang said.

But residents argued that the situation might not be as simple as Chang suggested.

Many of the villagers have reported breathing difficulties and lethargy. Some villagers have been hospitalized.

Bottled water is being supplied by the county government to villagers, and pipes transferring tap water will be built in the near future.

Village head Li Chin-lan (李金蘭) criticized the slow response of environmental officials and said the problem had been dealt with too casually.

Independent Legislator Chiu Chuang-liang (邱創良) said the EPA should offer the residents more up-to-date information about its investigation and accelerate the clean-up.

Chang promised to identify who dumped the waste as soon as possible.

He added that the local environmental bureau would demand compensation and a service fee for the clean-up from the landowners and others involved.