The government hopes an environmental impact assessment of Formosa Group’s plan to expand facilities at a naphtha cracker plant can proceed as scheduled despite two fires at the factory within the past month Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Hwang Jung-chiou (黃重球) yesterday said.
Hwang told a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus press conference that the Ministry of Economic Affairs would demand that the company provide “concrete and specific” explanations for the causes of the fires at its plant in Mailiao (麥寮), Yunlin County, before allowing the plant to resume operations.
“If the incidents were isolated, [the fire] will not affect the company’s expansion plan” and the company could proceed with an environmental impact assessment, Hwang said.
“However, if systematic problems are found, the ministry will need to see what they are,” Hwang said, adding that as the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) was responsible for the matter, the ministry would not send experts to monitor operations at the plant.
The company was ordered to stop operations at its hydrodesulfurization (HDS) unit after a fire broke out at the Mailiao plant on Sunday — the second in a month after a July 7 fire at the plant’s Alkene unit. It will only be allowed to resume operations after it passes a safety test organized by the Yunlin County government.
The EPA said that while no toxic chemicals were released on Sunday, air quality in surrounding areas had been affected, resulting in a NT$1 million (US$31,000) fine by the Yunlin County Government’s Environmental Protection Bureau — the most severe penalty stipulated in the Air Pollution Protection Act (空氣污染防治法).
Amid protests and calls for the expansion to be called off, Hwang yesterday emphasized the importance of the company, saying that as many as 370,000 jobs were related to the petrochemical industry.
Council of Labor Affairs Deputy Minister Kuo Fong-yu (郭芳煜), who also attended the conference, said the council would hold weekly inspections at the plant to ensure its safety. At present, the council inspects the plant every other week or once a month, Kuo said.
KMT Legislator Wu Ching-chih (吳清池) said Formosa could provide a safety inspection report to the Yunlin County Government every year.
Formosa had to shut one of its two gasoline-making residue fluid catalytic crackers at the complex on July 13 because of mechanical problems. The unit failed to restart as scheduled on Friday because of technical issues.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHELLEY HUANG
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
RSS