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.
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