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.
Taipei on Thursday held urban resilience air raid drills, with residents in one of the exercises’ three “key verification zones” reporting little to no difference compared with previous years, despite government pledges of stricter enforcement. Formerly known as the Wanan exercise, the air raid drills, which concluded yesterday, are now part of the “Urban Resilience Exercise,” which also incorporates the Minan disaster prevention and rescue exercise. In Taipei, the designated key verification zones — where the government said more stringent measures would be enforced — were Songshan (松山), Zhongshan (中山) and Zhongzheng (中正) districts. Air raid sirens sounded at 1:30pm, signaling the
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