Another case of steel furnace slag contamination was discovered yesterday at a farm in Houbi Township (後壁), Tainan County, one of the nation’s largest rice producing areas and the setting for the 2005 rice-farming documentary Let It Be (無米樂).
Investigators from Tainan County’s Bureau of Environmental Protection released figures showing that some areas contained chromium levels as high as 692 parts per million (ppm), almost three times higher than the maximum permissible safety level of 250ppm.
A WHO study says chromium is safe when ingested in small quantities, but it quickly becomes dangerous at higher levels.
Huang Huan-chang (黃煥彰), an associate professor at Chung Hwa University of Medical Technology, who last week tipped off Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) investigators about a contaminated duck farm in Kaohsiung County said that his analysis showed chromium levels as high as 3,365ppm in some areas.
Local media said local residents believe that the chromium contamination likely came from the nearby Chao Hsiang recycling center (超翔資源回收利用公司). They said that flooding that hit the area following Typhoon Morakot likely spread the legally run recycling center’s furnace slag into the surrounding areas.
That theory was supported by EPA Deputy Minister Chang Tzi-chin (張子敬), who told reporters earlier that the problems in Tainan County were likely the result of natural causes and that the case was different from the one at a duck farm in Daliao Township (大寮), Kaohsiung County.
Both the EPA and Tainan County’s Bureau of Environmental Protection, however, are still facing heavy criticism from lawmakers and the public.
Local agencies were also accused by Kanding Village (崁頂村) chief Chuang Bi-jhu (莊碧珠) of ignoring information given to them on Sept. 17 about possible contamination in the area. He said farmers had previously come to him regarding problems with their crops after the typhoon. He alleged that the authorities took no action until last month.
In response, Tsai Hung-teh (蔡鴻德), a senior official at the EPA, said yesterday that after the administration received confirmation about the presence of chromium, authorities moved fast to prevent produce in the area reaching the market place. He said 1,280kg of contaminated rice had already been removed from the farm and would be destroyed this week.
As the pollution only occurred after Typhoon Morakot brought flooding and because of the timely manner the rice was destroyed, Tsai said it was unlikely contaminated rice had reached the market place.
Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) promised to check the surrounding areas and produce a report within 15 days.
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