More than 1,000 dead fish that were discovered on Monday in Jingualiao Creek (金瓜寮溪), a tributary of a creek that runs into the Feitsui Reservoir in New Taipei City, sparked concerns over the safety of drinking water in the greater Taipei area, home to more than 5 million residents.
Water quality tests conducted jointly by the Taipei Feitsui Reservoir Administration, the Taipei Water Management Office and the Pinglin District Office later on the same day showed that both the acidity and oxygen content of the water in the reservoir are within normal ranges.
This indicated that the fish did not die because of bad water quality and that the water in the reservoir is safe to drink, officials said.
The dead fish were discovered in the lower reaches of Jingualiao Creek, 100m south of Lirenban Bridge, just before the creek joins with Beishih Creek, which runs directly into the reservoir.
A similar incident happened in August last year.
Local residents suspected that the incident on Monday might have been a case of poachers using a pesticide called rotenone to collect fish.
Cuku Borough (粗窟) Warden Wang Cheng-yi (王成意) said that the pesticide could have been used to obtain large quantities of fish with high economic value such as ayu — also known as sweet smelts — which breed from this month to September every year.
Officials with the Taipei Feitsui Reservoir Administration said that they have handed samples of the dead fish to relevant agencies for a comprehensive autopsy report to pinpoint the cause of death.
The administration has also dispatched personnel to clean up the rest of the fish, which are to be incinerated, officials said.
The officials said that even though the incident took place outside the reservoir, it has caused severe concern among residents of the Greater Taipei area.
To prevent such an incident from recurring, officials from the Taipei Feitsui Reservoir Administration said they have filed a report with the New Taipei City Police Department to start a investigation for possible suspects in the potential poaching incident.
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of
RSS