A refusal to suspend operations at a manufacturing site came under fire from environmental groups and judicial reform organizations yesterday in front of the Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) headquarters in Taipei.
Organizers said the group was out in force because operations were continuing at the site — part of the Taichung County Science Park system — despite a recent court ruling that threw the legal status of a controversial expansion into question.
The group threw wet toilet paper in front of the agency, imploring the EPA to respect the law, while calling on EPA Minister Stephen Shen (沈世宏) to step down. The protesters also visited the Control Yuan to deliver a written statement asking the watchdog to investigate their allegations.
PHOTO: CNA
Lawyers joining the protest said the EPA failed to comply with a ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court on Jan. 21.
The court’s ruling affirmed a lower court decision that an environmental impact assessment conducted in 2005 for the expansion was invalid. Judges said a second review of the assessment should have taken place before the site was given the go-ahead because the project was deemed to have “serious environmental consequences” for local residents.
The ruling marked the first time the courts have rejected an EPA environmental impact assessment or its procedures. It also marked an end to the agency’s appeals because it is the highest court with jurisdiction over government decisions. The decision casts doubt on whether the site has the legal basis to continue to operate, protesters said.
EPA officials, however, have dismissed the ruling as a relic from the previous Democratic Progressive Party administration.
Yeh Jiunn-horng (葉俊宏), director-general of Comprehensive Planning at the EPA, said the agency would abide by the ruling and conduct a new environmental impact assessment, but manufacturing operations that have already begun would not be halted.
He said sections 14 and 22 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Law (環境影響評估法), which stipulate that “development and commercial operations cannot begin at a site without the completion of relevant assessments,” did not apply in this case. Agency lawyers said the two sections referred to sites that had “never had an assessment completed.”
This was challenged by lawyers who joined the protest to show their support yesterday. They said the courts threw out the assessment based on irregularities, which means that the assessments were invalid and consequently, incomplete.
“The EPA has refused to admit wrongdoing, but even they need to follow the letter of the law,” lawyer Sandy Shih (施淑貞) said.
Another lawyer, Lin San-chia (林三家), said: “The [EPA] is clearly wrong in this case — I’m very concerned that their refusal to follow the law shows a worrying trend.”
The EPA’s interpretation angered local residents as it meant the two manufacturers that have begun operations on the site would be able to continue production even while a new assessment is pending.
AU Optronics Corp (友達科技) has reportedly already invested NT$30 billion (US$938 million) in its operations at the site, located near Cising Farm (七星農場) in Houli Township (后里), Taichung County, while Sunner Solar, a solar panel manufacturer, has reportedly invested NT$250 million.
Farmer Chiang Ching-wu (江清武) said the government has favored the interests of large corporations over farmers struggling to make a living.
“The operations should definitely stop,” Chiang said. “[They] haven’t shown any consideration for us farmers … Who knows what pollutants the factories are pumping out?”
“We want them to abide by the law,” he said.
The site has been a source of controversy since the expansion was completed in 2005, with local farmers and environmental organizations alleging that wastewater and chemical pollutants have destroyed crops and poisoned water supplies.
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