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).
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS