Environmental campaigners yesterday rallied in front of the Yunlin County Government building to protest against what they said was the local government’s “indifference” to public health after it last week allowed two coal-fired power plants owned by Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) to continue burning bituminous coal until 2017.
At the rally, Robert Lin (林春強), an academic contracted by the county government and serving on a committee monitoring operations at the FPG-owned sixth naphtha cracker complex — where the plants are situated — announced his resignation and tore up his contract.
Lin, enlisted by former Yunlin County commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬), said that his contract is valid until the end of the year, but that county government officials had not once met with committee members to seek their opinion on the permits since Yunlin County Commissioner Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) assumed office more than seven months ago.
Photo: CNA
Instead, Lee’s administration has assembled an opaque “counseling committee” that allegedly held several closed-door meetings with FPG regarding the permits, he said.
He said that Lee is not serious about banning the use of soft coal and petroleum coke, which was outlawed by a bylaw passed by the county council last month.
The commissioner has rejected Lin’s advice that he deny FPG the permits by exercising his administrative power and insisted on resolving the matter by starting a legal battle with the central government over the legitimacy of the bylaw.
The Executive Yuan and the Environmental Protection Administration have spoken out against the bylaw, saying that it contradicts the power of central government.
“By the time the verdict is handed down, Lee’s term as commissioner will have ended,” Lin said.
He said that instead of using his authority to reject the firm’s application, Lee used it to push back the deadline for ceasing to burn soft coal at the cost of public health.
Furthermore, county government officials who attended meetings to review FPG’s application to extend the permits ignored his suggestion that coal being consumed in the complex be replaced with more environmentally friendly anthracite, which has a high coal content, but low impurities, Lin said.
He also questioned whether there is any connection between the county government agreeing to extend the permits and a NT$240 million (US$7.7 million) road maintenance fund, which FPG reportedly promised the county government on Friday last week, just two days after the government approved the permits.
Lin said that Su, similarly, obtained funding from FPG to promote agricultural safety, which led the Control Yuan to issue a corrective measure against the county government over possible connivance with the firm.
“Can you [Lee] still dutifully monitor the sixth naphtha cracker after accepting cash from FPG?” Lin asked.
In response, the county government said that the road maintenance fund had been set up by FPG in 2010 and that it had nothing to do with the permit extensions.
The county government would strictly monitor emissions from the naphtha cracker complex by monitoring the amount of coal consumed, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals, sulfur content and particulates of less than 2.5 micrometers at the power plants, it said.
Lin was the second academic, after former county environmental protection adviser Chang Tzu-chien (張子見), enlisted by the county government to have resigned in protest over the extension of the permits.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
RSS