The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday charged six people with allegedly dumping 54 tonnes of industrial waste on farmland in Taoyuan’s Lujhu District (蘆竹).
Prosecutors and the Taoyuan Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday raided a site in Lujhu and found 284 barrels of industrial waste.
The barrels each held about 189 liters of a black sludge of unknown origin. Prosecutors said tests would be conducted to determine the exact contents of the barrels.
Photo: Cheng Shu-ting, Taipei Times
Forty more barrels filled with an unidentified substance were uncovered when investigators excavated the site, prosecutors said, adding that some of the liquid had seeped out of the containers to contaminate the soil.
The highly alkaline liquid has a pH reading of 13.3, and tests are also to be conducted to determine its contents.
A large amount of copper sludge was also found dumped in the field, prosecutors said, adding the sludge had possibly been produced by circuit board manufacturing and electroplating.
Chang Hung-chung (張宏中), who allegedly dumped the waste in the field, had rented the plot and allegedly transported and stored the waste since last month, prosecutors said.
Undercover investigators had collected evidence since prosecutors received tip-offs last month, and the raid was conducted after Chang had reportedly hired five people to dump the barrels, prosecutors said.
All six have been charged with contravening the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法) for improper and unlicensed disposing of hazardous industrial waste.
Chang could face a prison term of between one to five years and a maximum fine of NT$3 million (US$91,659).
Chang does not hold a waste disposal license, but reportedly collected waste from factories by claiming to work with licensed companies, prosecutors said.
Chang has refused to explain the source of the waste, claiming it had been left by a friend, he did not know what was in the barrels and did not profit from the dumping, prosecutors said.
The Taoyuan Department of Environmental Protection said that it had covered the field with waterproof fabric to prevent rain from dispersing the pollutants.
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