The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday said it has established an Illegal Dumping Management System, which uses GPS on garbage trucks, security cameras on waste treatment facilities and satellite remote sensing technologies to combat illegal dumping.
Department of Waste Management director-general Wu Tien-chi (吳天基) said an information system for illegal dumping sites was set up in 2004 for environmental police units and local governmental agencies to report such sites and for the public to query where the locations of the sites.
“However, cases of illegal dumping continued, such as aluminum waste slag found illegally dumped near Highway No. 61 in Greater Kaoshiung last year,” Wu said.
The updated system integrates new monitoring technologies to provide precise information on the existing sites and to help prevent illegal dumping using strict surveillance devices, the EPA said.
The system is open to the public, environmental protection bureaus and judicial agencies to respond as quick as possible, Wu said.
About 160 sites that have not been cleaned up are listed in the system. The largest number of illegal sites, 51, were located in Greater Tainan, followed by Changhua County with 31. Wu said the reason so many sites were in these areas might be because of the large amount of industrial waste dumped along Greater Tainan’s Er-ren River (二仁溪) in the past and along rivers in Changhua County.
The EPA said it was unable to disclose the total amount of illegally dumped waste and detailed information on the 160 sites, only saying that the sites were undergoing clean up and that that figure would be announced in April.
Wu said a severe case in Greater Taichung contained more then 100,000 tonnes of waste at one site. In addition, Wu said a public hearing on modifying the draft regulations for managing the use of general waste — recycled ash from incinerators — and the key point of the modified draft regulation were to limit the use of recycled ash to indirect agricultural use (farmhouse and farm roads), but would strictly be prohibited for direct agricultural use (growing crops, rearing live stock, or cultivated farming).
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
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