A total of 4,664 people took part in a 3,000m swim at Shihmen Reservoir yesterday despite the protests of environmental activists who said the event would pollute the water that is relied on by about 3 million people in northern Taiwan.
The activists had previously urged the swimmers to withdraw from the annual activity, sponsored by the Taoyuan County Government and the Masters Swimming Association of Taiwan. They said the swim would contaminate the 1.4 million tonnes of clean water the reservoir supplies a day.
Addressing these concerns, the director of the Shihmen Reservoir’s Management Center, Chang Ting-hua (張庭華), yesterday said Yuan Ze University’s Environmental Protection Center had been commissioned to monitor the reservoir’s water quality by taking samples before and after the event. The result of the tests would be available tomorrow, he said.
PHOTO: HSIEH WU-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Hsieh Ming-yen (謝明艷), an association executive responsible for operations in the Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli areas, also appealed to the activists and residents of northern Taiwan, saying that participants had taken showers and gone to the bathroom before jumping into the water.
“This swim has taken place for seven consecutive years to raise environmental awareness, and the reservoir’s water has never been found to be polluted after the swim,” Hsieh said.
The president of the association’s Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli branch, Chuang Wen-chang (鍾汶澄), added that the event also helped boost local businesses as many swimmers arrived a day early, spending money on food and accommodation.
A number of swimmers also said the 3,000m swim would not pollute the reservoir’s catchment area and described protesters as “overreacting.”
Unconvinced, Green Party Taiwan cited the Regulations Governing the Management of Shihmen Reservoir ‘s Special Scenic Area (石門水庫風景特定區管理規則) as well as signs placed near the reservoir that ban swimming, accusing the Water Resources Agency of negligence.
Director of the Taoyuan-based Green Formosa Front, Lin Chang-mao (林長茂), yesterday demanded an apology from Taoyuan County Commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) and his predecessor Eric Chu (朱立倫) for organizing what the activists called an illegal activity.
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