The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday said it has issued a NT$20 million (US$612,313) fine to an electroplating plant in Tainan that was found to have illegally discharged effluent via underground drainage pipes, while putting dozens more chemicals under its effluent management to control water pollution.
The Sanye River (三爺溪) plant in Rende District (仁德) was found to be discharging highly acidic wastewater directly into the river that flows through a major industrial park in the city, the EPA said.
The operator was ordered to seal an unlicensed pipe that was directly connected to the river and was given a maximum fine of NT$20 million according to the Water Pollution Control Act (水污染防治法). The EPA said it would ask the operator to return illegal gains and pay for the ensuing contamination management.
The EPA had conducted random tests of the river water last year and found high levels of heavy metal concentration and devised a program this year to analyze heavy metal residues in the river on a monthly basis.
The test results in past months had shown excessive levels of heavy metals, suggesting an illicit discharge of effluent as the source, the EPA said, adding that it targeted the electroplating plant in question after assessing the factories in the area and the compounds found in the river.
The capacity of the plant’s wastewater processing facility was too low for its operation and EPA inspectors found abnormal electric conductivity in the plant’s wastewater, the administration said.
Late Tuesday, the EPA and the Tainan Environmental Protection Bureau discovered the operator was discharging unprocessed wastewater directly into the river through a secret drainage pipe, adding that the operator would be facing criminal charges that could lead to a five-year prison term, the EPA said.
The EPA last month designated 48 heavy metals and chemical compounds as harmful and hazardous, including benzyl butyl phthalate commonly used as a plasticizer, as well as indium, gallium and molybdenum, that are mostly discharged by the semiconductor and optoelectronics industry.
The discharge of such materials is to be put under more stringent control.
The designation was a part of the amendment of the Water Pollution Act, which had not been revised for 12 years, during which those designated materials had been proven toxic or carcinogenic, the EPA said.
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