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Sun Moon Lake hotels defend environmental record

Pan Han-shen, secretary-general of the Taiwan Green Party, displays a photograph of hidden wastewater pipes at Lalu Hotel near Sun Moon Lake at a press conference yesterday. Pan claims that the Lalu disguises wastewater pipes as water pipes to mislead the Environmental Protection Administration into taking false samples. PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES

Resort hotels around Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) in Nantou County, including the Lalu (涵碧樓), pose a threat to the nation's premier honeymoon spot, an environmental group said yesterday.

Out of the six major hotels situated around the lake -- including the Lalu, Sun Moon Lake Teacher's Hostel, CYC Sun Moon Lake (China Youth Corps), Hotel del Lago, The Sun Moon Lake and Chinatrust Hotel -- "only Chinatrust and the Teacher's Hostel have not been fined for violating the Environmental Protection Administration's [EPA] water quality control regulations in the past three years," Environmental Quality Protection Foundation chairman Liou Ming-lone (劉銘龍) said.

"Hotels have a social responsibility to ensure the wellness of their surrounding environment, as they depend upon nature and publicly owned resources, such as Sun Moon Lake, for business," he said. "Such behavior is like biting the hand that feeds."

Lu Hung-kuang (呂鴻光), chief of the EPA's Department of Water Protection, yesterday responded to reports by several Chinese-language newspapers that the Lalu topped the list of violators.

The newspapers cited an incident early last year, when a former Lalu employee reported the hotel's illegal installation of a waste water hose that fed directly into the lake.

"The Lalu was fined three times in the past three years, which would make it, comparatively speaking, the most heavily fined [hotel in the area]. However, all the hotels around the lake have been quite compliant with the law," Lu said.

"In fact, Sun Moon Lake boasts the best water quality among all the nation's reservoirs," he said.

In response to the allegations, Lalu assistant general manager Dennis Morinaga said that the incident occurred seven months ago, and the hotel has "since taken action to fully comply with environmental protection laws."

"The hotel's water treatment plant treats 250 tonnes of waste water each day," Morinaga said.

"We were fined in May not because of `waste water' per se," he said, "but for emitting water that is used to cool our air conditioning system."

"We have since upgraded the system to better comply with EPA regulations" and worked within the legal boundaries, he said.

Lee Ming-shuh (李明恕), chief of the water quality and soil conservation section of the county's Environmental Protection Bureau, confirmed the hotel's claims, saying the lake's water quality was excellent, "according to the five water quality detectors we installed in it."

"Moreover, from April to December we have inspected the six hotels a total of 67 times," Lee told Taipei Times, which translates to two inspections per month in the last eight months, far ahead of the EPA's guideline of two inspections per year.

"In the 67 inspections we have reported two unlawful practices," he said, adding that such violations are subject to a fine of between NT$60,000 and NT$600,000.

"One of them was the Lalu in May," Lee said, "The other was on June 25, when the China Youth Corps exceeded the legal amount of waste water emission. They were fined NT$60,000."

"Both occasions were relatively minor," Lee said, adding that: "The hotels responded to correct the problems, and there have been no violations since June."

"The water is good now, and the bureau has made it a top priority to keep it that way," Lee said.
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