Two companies are under investigation by Kaohsiung City prosecutors for allegedly selling large amounts of activated carbon — a compound used to absorb dioxin emissions in waste incineration — that was of an inferior quality.
Prosecutors said Pingtung-based Li Jing Viscarb Co and Wel Han Environmental Industrial Co supplied material to incinerators that did not fulfill legal requirements and which led to dangerous fumes containing heavy chemical and metal compounds being released into the atmosphere.
The two companies appear to be run by the same owner and share an office together in Neipu Industrial Zone, Pingtung County.
Activated carbon, derived from charcoal, is processed to give it absorption qualities that allow it to trap dangerous compounds.
Prosecutors allege that the companies have been supplying inferior material which only contains iodine levels of 300 milligrams per gram, while packaging it as more expensive activated carbon that can contain up to 900 milligrams per gram and which fulfills legal requirements.
Kaohsiung City prosecutor Chou Chang-you (周昶佑) said yesterday that the company had deceived spot checks conducted by municipal authorities by creating a false compartment in the storage areas of its delivery trucks.
“If you open [the compartment] to take a sample, all the material inside fulfills regulations, but the material delivered to the incinerators does not,” Chou said.
According to documents filed with prosecutors, the company has been supplying 20 publicly and privately-owned garbage incinerators for more than six years. Because of the inferior quality of the material supplied, prosecutors fear that large amounts of dangerous chemicals, including dioxins, have been pumped unchecked into the air.
Dioxins have been blamed for causing a wide range of illnesses, including liver problems in the short-term, as well as the impairment of immune, neurological and reproductive systems over longer periods, a WHO report showed.
Last August, more than 9,000 dioxin-contaminated ducks were culled at a Kaohsiung County farm situated on the site of a former landfill. The land was found to be tainted with dioxins from dumped steel-mill slag.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, however, company representative Chen Jun-ming (陳俊明) showed reports of tests conducted by the non-profit Industrial Technology Research Institute which state the material tested met the regulations.
Chen said his company had never sold inferior activated carbon or attempted to deceive investigators.
In response to reports of secret compartments found in the company’s delivery trucks, Chen said the material was transported directly from the manufacturer to the end-users in sealed containers, making allegations of tampering baseless.
Operators of garbage incinerators involved said yesterday that repeated tests on discharged fumes showed that dioxin levels were below regulations.
Chiang Chun-hsiang (江俊卿), operator of a plant in Taipei County, said the company had always supplied activated carbon that was within regulations.
Prosecutors said three company officials were detained yesterday and had been charged with fraud, making false statements and violating the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法).
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