Poor environmental regulations regarding the establishment of waste landfills have jeopardized the safety of water resources and some projects involving building new landfills have to be halted immediately, environmentalists said yesterday.
Dozens of environmentalists and residents affected by landfill projects yesterday protested in front of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) building, asking for a comprehensive review of related laws.
According to existing environmental regulations, proposals for building new landfills on slopes are exempted from an environmental impact assessment (EIA) as long as the area is smaller than two hectares. Chen Jiau-hua (
"These bad environmental laws have to be amended immediately," Chen said.
Taking landfill projects in Tzauchiau (造橋), Miaoli County, and in Dongshan (東山) Township, Tainan County, as examples, Chen said that possible negative impacts on water resources had been ignored when their proposals were reviewed.
In addition to poor environmental regulations, Chen said that the construction of landfill projects involving local gangsters were even worse. Chen Ching-chi (陳清奇), a farmer from Mialo, produced medical certificates, saying that his opposition to a local landfill project had led to a brutal beating.
Meanwhile, residents of Sindian, Taipei County, urged the EPA to block construction of a landfill for hazardous waste near their homes, saying that it would eventually cause pollution in both the Sindian River and the groundwater of the Taipei metropolitan area.
EPA officials said yesterday that local governments had to ensure effective communication with residents on issues regarding landfill projects.
"The launch of waste incinerators in the early 1990s has led to the closure of more than 300 landfills nationwide. Currently, 174 operational waste landfills will be closed within two years. As for proposals to build new ones, we will demand local governments to communicate with people in those areas more effectively," said Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文), director-general of the EPA's Bureau of Solid Waste Management.
Chen said that the EPA plans to have at least one landfill for waste that cannot be appropriately treated in incinerators.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
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