A project to construct a Formula 3 (F3) racetrack in Taichung passed an environmental impact assessment on Thursday, with the developer expecting to hold four international races at the venue each year.
The proposed racing circuit is to be constructed at Lihpao Land (麗寶樂園) — previously known as the Yamay Recreation World (月眉育樂世界), the nation’s first build-and-transfer amusement park — in the city’s Houli District (后里).
The developer, Yue-Mei International Development Corp (月眉國際開發), said it would hold four international races and 50 private races every year, as well as constructing a hotel complex with 585 rooms to accommodate an estimated 3.8 million tourists per year.
Following Penbay International Circuit in Dapeng Bay (大鵬灣), Pingtung County, the proposed project would be the second such raceway in the nation that would be qualified to host all the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) G2-level events except for Formula 1 races, the developer said.
The developer said it would cap the noise of racing vehicles at 110dB and would not hold night races, and would construct noise barriers that comply with noise control regulations.
Environmental impact assessment committee member and National Taiwan University oceanography professor Song Gwo-shyh (宋國士) said that the proposed racetrack is adjacent to an active fault line that caused a catastrophic earthquake in 1935, but the developer did not mention any response measures to earthquake disasters. Song added that the developer has yet to submit a geological survey of the area.
Song said the developer should reinforce the structural integrity of the facility against earthquakes to guarantee the safety of track visitors.
The committee questioned whether the extraction of underground water at the racing facility could lead to ground subsidence at the bullet train’s tracks, as the proposed racetrack is only 400m from Taiwan High Speed Rail tracks.
The developer has said it would plant 683 native trees in the area to contain air pollution, however, the committee said the developer did not evaluate whether there is enough room in the facility for those trees.
The committee approved the development project, but asked the developer to submit a complete survey of the geology and groundwater system in the area, as well as plans to clean and recycle oil spill and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The developer should also conduct noise monitoring in sensitive areas surrounding the facility, the committee said.
FLU SEASON: Twenty-six severe cases were reported from Tuesday last week to Monday, including a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with influenza-associated encephalopathy Nearly 140,000 people sought medical assistance for diarrhea last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday. From April 7 to Saturday last week, 139,848 people sought medical help for diarrhea-related illness, a 15.7 percent increase from last week’s 120,868 reports, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The number of people who reported diarrhea-related illness last week was the fourth highest in the same time period over the past decade, Lee said. Over the past four weeks, 203 mass illness cases had been reported, nearly four times higher than the 54 cases documented in the same period
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching