The fifth expansion to the nation’s largest petrochemical processing complex will need to enter the second stage of its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.
The Formosa Plastics Group Naphtha Cracker currently covers an area of more than 2,603 hectares in Yunlin County.
The expansion would add another 1,805 hectares.
EIA committee members said yesterday the second stage assessment, which is not required by law, was needed to deal with complaints by surrounding communities about excessive water use and environmental degradation due to land reclamation projects.
The EPA fined the company NT$7 million (US$210,000) in March 2007 for failing to meet water consumption limits set during an environmental assessment made in 2004.
Agency officials said that the second-stage assessment would be primarily directed toward limiting environmental and health risks for the surrounding communities.
They said that it would consist of public hearings and a comprehensive health assessment.
Formosa Plastics said that it invested NT$625 billion (US$19.5 billion) in the cracker since 1999.
Total production at the complex reached NT$1.469 billion in 2008.
EIA committee members said the second-stage assessment would take about half a year.
Company officials said the additional assessments would delay their construction timetables.
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