Despite strong opposition from environmental activists, the Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) environmental impact assessment (EIA) committee yesterday gave conditional approval to the Phase-3 development project at the Central Taiwan Science Park.
Sixteen committee members who attended the meeting gave their unanimous support to the project, which covers properties between Houli (后里) and Cishing Farm (七星) in Taichung County. No one suggested that the project should be abandoned or put to a second round of review.
Aside from minor revisions to the text, the conclusions reached at the committee generally followed those made by a special taskforce that did a preliminary review of the case. The Central Taiwan Science Park Administration will be required to follow several specific requirements during construction and operations at the Phase-3 zone, including regulating water usage, ambient water quality and emission of volatile organic compounds.
The administration’s decision to host the impact assessment meeting enraged environmental activists, who staged a protest in front of the EPA building in the afternoon and called on the committee to send the Phase-3 development project to a second round of review.
“The Supreme Administrative Court annulled the ruling on the development project, but the EPA was convinced that it would pass the EIA committee at the end of August,” Green Party representative Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) said, standing in the rain with other activists. “The EIA system is dead and the case will pass today.”
The meeting yesterday was presided over by the Environmental Protection Agency Minister Stephen Shen (沈世宏). Before members of the committee ruled on the case, Shen allowed about 20 representatives from environmental groups, the Central Park Science Administration Workers Union and residents from Houli to voice their concerns.
Mercy on the Earth secretary-general Lee Ken-cheng (李根政) was one of the EIA members who reviewed the case in 2006. He said that although eight EIA members proposed that Phase-3 be sent to a second stage of reviews four years ago, the committee still granted conditional approval to the case. It is unclear whether the EIA members four years ago thoroughly addressed certain concerns, including massive use of farmland, the impact on fishery resources and regulations of air pollutants, Lee said.
He also said there were questions as to whether the science park would commit to not using water reserved for irrigation in the eventuality that the park faced water shortages.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS