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Tainan factory site blamed for cancer

Legislators yesterday criticized the Ministry of Economic Affairs for slack management after high dioxin levels were found in the blood of residents living near a polluted factory site of a formerly state-run corporation.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tang Pi-o (唐碧娥) yesterday took issue with Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥), saying the ministry had ignored the pollution for too long.

Tang said that a recent investigation by scientists suggested that dioxin levels in the blood of 14 residents living near a polluted site used by the China Petrochemical Development Corp in Tainan City greatly exceeded the maximum recommended level.

The site had been used for decades by the state-owned Taiwan Alkali Industrial Corp (TAIC), which merged in 1979 with China Petrochemical. When China Petrochemical became a private company in 1994, it inherited all land used by TAIC, which has ceased to operate.

"The blood dioxin level for one of the residents was about 15 times the recommended level. In one family, eight people are dying from cancer," Tang said.

However, managers at China Petrochemical said the company was not responsible because it never used the site. They said the government should take responsibility for costs associated with treating the victims because the pollution was caused by TAIC, which was under the supervision of the ministry.

Ho said yesterday that the ministry would do its best to assist victims if compensation was necessary.

Ho told Tang that the ministry had discussed the issue with the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and that an up-to-date investigation would be completed within one year.

"We are hoping to confirm the total area of sites that have been polluted. However, certain chemicals, such as pentachlorophenol, have spread further since they are soluble in water," Ho said.

The ministry's investigation will be launched at the end of the year. According to the EPA's Soil and Groundwater Pollution Remediation Fund Management Board, the comprehensive study will provide suggestions to the EPA for coming up with measures to deal with the pollution.

"So far, the sources of the pollution have been contained," Andy Shen (沈一夫), deputy executive secretary of the board, told the Taipei Times.

Earlier, the EPA gave NT$70 million to the Tainan City Government to implement measures including the removal of fish from the pool and erecting warning signs.

"Scientific evidence supporting a direct link between the residents' cancers and the pollution remains insufficient," Shen said.

Activists said the government failed to minimize the entry of dioxins into the food chain, resulting in contamination. Dioxin levels in different species of fish in the pool are 10 to 100 times the maximum level permitted by EU countries.

Most of the residents in question have eaten fish from a 13-hectare pool inside the polluted site for decades, they said.

Green Formosa Front chairman Wu Tung-jye (吳東傑) said that complex administrative procedures had jeopardized people's lives.

"We suspect that higher dioxin levels could be found elsewhere in other unreported cases of pollution," Wu said.

Wu said that the government should not dodge serious environmental problems resulting from the decades-long development of the chemical industry.
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