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Taoyuan factory still leaking harmful chemicals into groundwater, EPA says

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday clarified a report that groundwater pollution at the site of the Radio Corp of America's plant in Taoyuan has spread up to 500m outside the plant.

The report by a Chinese-language newspaper said the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) conducted a pollution survey of the groundwater within 500m of the plant and found that tetrachlorethylene (TCE) concentrations exceeded acceptable levels.

TCE, a volatile solvent most often used in the electronics, dry-cleaning and aerospace industries, has been classified by the International Research Association on Cancer as a highly carcinogenic substance.

The plant was shut down in 1992, but the pollution was not exposed until 1994.

Shen Yi-fu (沈一夫), deputy executive secretary of the EPA's Soil and Groundwater Remediation Fund Management Board, said that since the site's pollution came to light, the EPA has designated areas within 500m of the plant as pollution regulatory areas, adding that there were unlikely to be other polluted areas.

He said that the EPA commissioned the ITRI to conduct the survey of groundwater around the plant last year with the aim of identifying the level of pollution of the groundwater as a reference in future pollution cleanup work.

Shen said that since the site was found to be contaminated, the use of groundwater in the area for drinking has been strictly forbidden.

The regulatory area extends 500m from the site, and the EPA has so far not found polluted groundwater beyond this zone, he said.

Shen added that soil cleanup work within the plant was completed in 1998 and that residents in nearby communities have been drinking tap water which he said posed minimal health risks.

The research association has recently proposed a groundwater cleanup plan, Shen said, adding that the plan would be put into practice after it is approved by the Taoyuan County Government.
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