The abnormal color of seawater at the “South Star” land reclamation project in Greater Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港) is the result of furnace slag from China Steel Corp that is being used in reclamation work, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported yesterday.
The Asia Luxury Yacht Manufacturing Center construction project is being developed by the Greater Kaohsiung Government and covers a total area of about 113 hectares of reclaimed land. It is scheduled for completion in 2014.
Although some environmentalists worry that the light neon-blue color may be a sign of dioxin or heavy metal contamination, the Greater Kaohsiung Government’s Environmental Protection Bureau said it was not hazardous, but a phenomenon that occurs when sunlight reflects off seawater containing white sediment.
The bureau said furnace slag is listed as a non-hazardous industrial waste that can be used for land reclamation and that water quality monitoring has proved that the seawater near the site is within safety standards.
Hsu Chung-li (徐仲禮), section chief at the bureau’s Waste Management Section, said at the site yesterday that when sunlight shines on normal seawater, six of the seven colors of the rainbow are absorbed by the water, which reflects only the color blue.
“That’s why we see the ocean as blue,” Hsu said. “The bright blue color we have been seeing is because there is carbonated acid in the water.”
Using a bottle to collect water samples for examination, Hsu said the water’s pH level was above 12, which is very alkaline.
“There is lime in the water, which is alkaline, but after a period of time, it will be balanced out by seawater and the level will return to the neutral pH level of 8,” Hsu said.
Environmental Protection Administration Minister Stephen Shen (沈世宏) told the legislature yesterday that dissolution experiments had shown that furnace slag was safe and that the possibility of dioxins being in the water was low, adding that the administration would nevertheless conduct further analysis.
Shen said the administration would continue to monitor water quality to ensure its safety and that a report would be published within a week.
Although the construction area is surrounded by dikes, the bureau urged people not to touch the water because of the high alkaline levels, which can irritate the skin.
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