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).
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,
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