The 40th supervisory committee meeting on the No. 6 naphtha cracker ended in deadlock on Tuesday with Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) calling for an open debate with Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) on the environmental hazards reportedly caused by the plant since its establishment in 1991.
The plant in Mailiao Township (麥寮) has faced a string of incidents in recent months including two major fires in July and two reports of foul odors emanating from the site last month.
Su said the county government has repeatedly voiced its concerns over the plant, especially after the fires, but its pleas have largely been ignored by the Industrial Development Bureau and the conglomerate.
“Even now, there is no designated lane for the oversized vehicles used by the plant. The plant has become a nuisance for local residents and this is just one of the many examples,” Su said.
The county government complained about FPG’s failure to reduce the noise, air and water pollution emitted by the facility and criticized it for shoddy fire fighting management.
A Yunlin Fire Department official said it took three days to fully extinguish the July 7 fire and he pointed the finger at the plant’s firefighters for failing to contain the initial blaze.
An official from the county’s Environmental Bureau said the plant discharges as much as 18,000 tonnes of waste water a day and the pH level was as low as 6.3 — just within the legal range of 6 to 9 for agricultural irrigation use.
However, experts commissioned by the conglomerate said research showed that the plant did not pose a hazard to the environment and that its toxic waste emissions, as well noise pollution and traffic levels, were all within legal standards.
FPG must submit an overall health impact assessment report by the end of this month.
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