The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday gave the green light to a controversial national biotech park project in Taipei after completing its environmental impact assessment.
Six suggestions, meanwhile, were offered to the project’s developer, Academia Sinica.
Among them, the panel asked the developer to adopt the operation model of other industrial parks, build an eco-industrial park and integrate the resources of neighboring communities.
Some of the more detailed suggestions include the use of environmentally friendly vehicles within the park, strengthening noise control and raising the survival rate of transplanted trees.
The proposed park will be built on a 25.31 hectare site that is currently a part of the military’s 202 Arsenal in the city’s suburban Nangang District (南港), which lies just west of Academia Sinica’s headquarters.
Environmentalists, however, have voiced strong opposition to the project because there is a wetland on the site.
In light of the environmental concerns, Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) said the planned floor area of the buildings in the park has been scaled down to 3.15 hectares.
While 3.97 hectares will be reserved for roads and open space, the remaining 18.19 hectares will be used for ecological conservation and wetland restoration, Wong said.
He said that the NT$22.5 billion (US$782 million) project is expected to be completed in five to six years. Construction will begin as soon as the military clears the site.
The park is expected to create 2,000 research and development jobs, Wong said.
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