State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC) failed to seek environmental approval for modifications made to its facility in Kaohsiung Siaogang District (小港) due to emissions issues, environmentalists said alleging that the company made up false emission numbers.
Following the closure of a major CPC oil refinery in Kaohsiung’s Houjin (後勁) area last year, the company proposed to expand a facility in Siaogang’s Dalinpu (大林埔) area to process reformates — substances that are converted from naphtha and used to make gasoline.
However, CPC terminated the expansion project due to construction difficulties and the establishment of an air pollution control zone in Kaohsiung and Pingtung, saying it would continue to transport reformates from the Dalinpu facility to another CPC facility in Kaohsiung’s Linyuan District (林園) for processing.
The company still filed a modification application with the Environmental Protection Administration to modify its crude oil distillation process at the Dalinpu facility.
The company said a planned equipment update and manufacturing process modifications could reduce the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from 305 tonnes to 290 tonnes every year, which was challenged by environmentalists.
Taiwan Water Resources Conservation Union standing director Wu Li-hui (吳麗慧) said that while the company claimed to be able to reduce VOC emissions, it did not provide verifiable information regarding emissions calculations.
“According to the modification proposal, CPC plans to increase distillation equipment units from 2,900 units to 7,600 units, but the company did not explain how that increase could lead to reduced VOC emissions,” Wu said.
“CPC manipulated emission numbers to create an emission reduction so it could expand the facility in the future with surplus emissions quota,” union director Jennifer Nien (粘麗玉) said, calling for an investigation into the company’s statistics.
CPC said the emissions reduction was caused by a replacement of high-emissions equipment with more efficient equipment, while it promised it would not propose expansion.
The administration’s environmental impact assessment committee said CPC rounded up numbers in its proposal, which discounted the company’s credibility.
The committee told the company to provide detailed emissions data for all equipment for further review.
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