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CPC destroying reef: inspectors

An inspection by the Endemic Species Research Institute this week found that CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) was not living up to promises it made last month to lessen the destruction of an algal reef along its gas pipeline construction project off the coast of Taoyuan County.

The institute sent its findings to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which had given CPC until May 31 to propose measures to protect the reef.

The institute's inspection found that the size of the construction area was far larger than CPC had promised it would be. At least 1.1 hectares of the reef had been dug up or covered in gravel and can never be restored, while the supports for the 10m-wide construction platform have caused additional destruction, inspectors said.

CPC had pledged to shrink the width of the construction area along the line from 12m to 4m.

Inspectors this week sad that workers dumped the sediment that was dug up next to the line, covering another 8m of reef along it.

CPC Chairman Pan Wenent (潘文淡) said the company would "adopt" the reef after construction was finished and that company officials visited the Institute of Oceanography at National Taiwan University to enlist the help of reef expert and professor Dai Chang-feng (戴昌鳳).

Dai expressed enthusiasm about helping but warned restoration efforts might have limited results because of water pollution had not been alerted about the reef during the environmental impact review in 2004, adding that the issue had only been brought to their attention after construction had begun.

It said the reef was the nation's largest algal reef and had already suffered severe damage from industrial pollution.

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