Environmentalists yesterday protested against an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for an expansion project at a naphtha cracker complex that failed to include fine particles.
The EIA for the fourth expansion project at Formosa Plastics Corp’s sixth naphtha cracker complex in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮) did not list PM2.5 (fine particles less than 2.5 micrometers) as an item in the evaluation.
Before the impact assessment meeting, environmentalists gathered in front of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and called on committee members to reject a proposal to once again expand the plant.
The Taiwan Water Resources Protection Union said many accidents had occurred at the naphtha cracker complex in recent years, adding that several epidemiological investigations have shown that the occurrence of several serious diseases among local residents may have been caused by pollution from the plants.
“The developer should not use fake pollution reduction as an excuse for real expansion,” Yunlin County Environmental Protection Union chairman and former EIA committee member Chang Tsu-chien (張子見) said.
Although the developer claims the expansion project will not increase water usage and pollution, this was only a bargaining tool to ensure the approval of the project, Chang said.
The total air pollutant emission levels originally approved by the EIA had already been proven to cause serious health threats, even when the plants’ emission amount have not reached the regulated maximum level, Chang said.
“The reason for its pollution reduction is because the approved total emission level was unreasonably high,” he said, adding that it should not be used as a bargaining chip, and the total emission level should even be re-evaluated and amended to a level that is safe and endurable by local residents.
The Changhua Medical Alliance said that it was irresponsible to not take the health of local residents into consideration, by leaving out the evaluation on PM2.5 levels in the expansion project, when the volatile organic compounds and PM2.5 emissions from the plants may be connected to the occurrence of cancer in people living nearby.
The environmental groups urged the EPA to re-evaluate and reduce the total allowable air pollutants emission level and take PM2.5 levels into evaluation before approving the expansion project.
However, an analysis report on the difference in the environmental impact for the expansion project was conditionally approved at the EIA meeting yesterday afternoon.
The EPA said it has strongly requested that the developer reduce pollution emissions before increasing production output. The reduction level must be higher than the new plant’s emission level and reported to the EIA committee for approval before the new plant starts operations, the agency said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS