The legislature yesterday held a public hearing to discuss whether laws should be amended to prevent more accidents at Formosa Plastics Corp’s sixth naphtha cracker in Mailiao Township (麥寮), Yunlin County.
At a meeting of the Health, Environment and Social Welfare Committee, specialists and governmental officials discussed how the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防法) and Toxic Chemical Substances Control Act (毒性化學物質管理法) could be amended to address the problematic plant.
There have been a series of fires at the complex in the past year, including two last month.
Starting with a fire on July 7 last year, close to 10 incidents have been reported at the complex, a situation that represents a threat to local residents, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) said.
The incidents at the complex are causing serious environmental pollution and have exposed problems in both the government’s industry supervision and the management at the plant.
Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) said dealing with the frequent accidents at the complex were beyond the ability of local government in terms of financial resources, manpower and authority.
Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權), a professor at the Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene at National Taiwan University, said that when facing large petrochemical corporations with a heavy carbon footprint that threatens public health, such as the plant in Mailiao, the current “self-management mechanism” should be replaced by compulsory administration by the government.
After about three hours of discussion, a consensus was reached on asking Cabinet agencies to submit legal amendments or enforcement and preventative rules before the legislative session resumes in September.
They also demanded that the Ministry of Economic Affairs monitor the plant and present a total pipeline renewal plan and implementation schedule before the next legislative session begins.
Cabinet agencies were also asked to regularly force plants to shut down for inspection and to set up an independent investigation board such as the US’ Chemical Safety Board (CSB), an independent federal agency tasked with investigating industrial chemical accidents to protect workers, the public and the environment.
The CSB’s members are appointed by the US president and confirmed by the US Senate.
It was also requested that an inter-ministerial board be created to monitor and control the complicated issues related to petrochemical industry, which those at the hearing said was beyond the control and ability of local governments.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard