The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is neglecting pollution in Changhua County’s Dadu River Estuary Wildlife Refuge, lawmakers said yesterday.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) told a press conference that the 3 hectare refuge was one of the most important wetlands in Asia, but that it had been polluted, threatening the ecosystem and humans.
Huang said she had informed the EPA about the problem and was told it suspected that the pollution consists of coal ash and flue dust, fine particles of metal emitted by a smelter.
She said the EPA had shirked its responsibilities by blaming the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ River Management Office for the problem.
He Jiane-rin (何建仁), an EPA section chief, said the agency had used the word “suspected” because the official results of inspections had yet to be determined. However, he said it was confirmed yesterday that the refuge was polluted by toxic industrial waste, he added.
The agency would work with the River Management Office to clean up the waste, he said.
“We will also inspect the soil and groundwater,” He said. “If they are found to be contaminated, we will place the refuge under our supervision.”
Huang Huan-chang (黃煥彰), an associate professor at Chunghua University of Medical Technology’s department of nursing, said the dioxin in the soil was 2.5 times normal values.
“Pollutants in the earth spread through the water in the Dadu River as the tides ebb and flow,” Huang Huan-chang said. “Mudskippers, fiddler crab and oysters have to live in an environment filled with flue dust.”
Green Party Taiwan spokesperson Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) said the EPA and local environmental protection bureaus had failed to protect the environment, allowing poisonous substances into the food chain.
“Steel and electroplating plants are a cancer for the land in Taiwan,” he said. “Now the cancer cells have got out of hand and spread.”
“Like a failed immune system, the environmental bureaus didn’t do their job,” Pan said.
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