Chang Tzu-chien (張子見), an environmental protection adviser to the Yunlin County Government, on Friday announced his resignation after the county agreed to a two-year extension of the permits of two coal-fired power plants owned by the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) to burn bituminous coal.
Chang, a professor at TransWorld University’s tourism and eco-tourism department, said he resigned because he felt that the county government did not respect his and his fellow advisers’ professionalism and advice.
At a news conference in Taipei on Wednesday, Yunlin County Commissioner Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) criticized the Environmental Protection Administration and the Ministry of Economic Affairs for their rejection of a county bylaw passed last month to ban the use of soft coal and petroleum coke in the county.
However, that same day the county agreed to extend the permits for the FPG plants, a move that angered environmentalists nationwide.
Many of the environmentalists accused Yunlin of staging a “sham.”
“I am very upset, particularly with the results [of the permit review]. I think that the opinions and expertise of environmentalists were not only disrespected, but also taken advantage of and seriously distorted,” Chang said.
“Originally, FPG was granted six months to make improvements [to soft coal consumption and heavy metal output at the plants], so that Yunlin would have a bargaining chip for negotiations regarding the sixth naphtha cracker [overseen by FPG and the ministry] so that the bylaw could be passed, which is what we cared about the most,” Chang said.
Lee overruled the six-month grace period, stipulated earlier this month, and demanded that FPG undergo a third review after providing more comprehensive data about its emissions.
However, just one week later, he signed off on the two-year extension of the permits.
Yunlin Deputy Commissioner Chang Huang-chen (張皇珍) said that meetings to review the permit applications were designed to “consult” the advisers, not seek their approval, adding that the county government was the final authority in the approval of the applications.
“It was due to our respect for the advisers that we held three such meetings instead of one. Otherwise, we could have approved the applications after just one meeting,” he said.
Chang Huang-chen said the county government would extend an offer for Chang Tzu-chien to remain in his post, but the professor said he would decline the offer.
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