Environmental groups yesterday clashed with a Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corp workers’ union in front of the Changhua County Government building over the company’s use of bituminous coal, a substance that makes a significant contribution to air pollution.
The company owns and runs an industrial complex that includes fabrics factories and a coal power plant in Changhua.
Operations at the coal plant could be suspended if it fails to renew its license by the end of next month, but environmentalists said the renewal should not be allowed because the plant produces excessive sulfides.
Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corp workers staged a protest against the Changhua Environmental Protection Bureau, which they said rejected the company’s renewal applications several times because of pressure from environmental groups.
The company is required to use coal that has a sulfur content of less than 0.87 percent, according to an environmental permit issued to the company in 1999, but Changhua County Environmental Protection Union secretary-general Shih Yueh-ying (施月英) said the company never submitted data, suggesting that it could not meet the standard.
The bureau said the sulfur content of the coal used by the plant is 1.1 percent.
However, union director Liu Hsin-hua (劉興華) said the plant’s emissions are in accordance with legal standards, adding that the bureau conducted 15 plant inspections from May to last month, but found no emissions violations.
“The county government should review the renewal application independent of the influence of environmental groups to protect workers’ rights,” Liu said.
“The issuing and renewal of operation licenses has to follow environmental regulations, not the opinions of environmentalists,” Liu added.
“The bureau is simply doing its job. Plant workers who believe they are being abused [by environmental groups] are delusional,” Fight for Health Women’s Group Changhua Chapter director Yen Shu-nu (顏淑女) said.
Bureau spokesman Huang Wei-hsiang (黃維祥) said it is reviewing another renewal application, but the company did not submit data about the sulfur content of the bituminous coals it uses.
If the plant fails to meet the standards required, its license cannot be renewed, Huang said.
Past inspections might not have included sulfur content tests, and the bureau is still investigating why it has been excluded for the past 17 years, Huang said.
The county government in April designated the complex a “special industrial zone,” making the complex subject to stricter environmental monitoring.
The county council last month passed an air pollution bylaw, which, if approved by the Environmental Protection Administration, would effectively ban factories from using all fossil fuels except natural gas, Huang said.
‘SMEAR CAMPAIGN’: The ‘Global Times’ accused the DPP of offering politicians in Somaliland bribes and promoting Taiwanese independence by funding US think tanks The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday denounced China’s Global Times for disseminating disinformation about Taiwan, after the Chinese state-run newspaper claimed that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been bribing Somaliland politicians. Taiwan in August last year inaugurated the Taiwan Representative Office in the Republic of Somaliland, which is the nation’s only representative office whose title uses just the name “Taiwan.” The East African country also established a representative office in Taipei, despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations. The Chinese-language Global Times on Monday accused the DPP of offering Somaliland politicians and their families considerable bribes, citing anonymous sources. The International Cooperation
Phase 2 clinical trial results of the Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp’s COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday were published on the Web site of The Lancet: Respiratory Medicine, in an early preview before publication. The study paves the way for other nations to issue emergency use authorizations or produce the Medigen vaccine, given The Lancet’s credibility as a highly respected medical journal with a rigorous peer-review process, Medigen’s international affairs director Lien Chia-en (連加恩) said. Lien said that the study is important as it proposes methods for converting international units for efficacy comparisons. The methods have been used for correlating the efficacy of hepatitis B
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday in his Double Ten National Day message accused the Democratic Progressive Party government of inciting fear and anti-China sentiment, while making an appeal to Beijing to accept Taiwan’s existence. After attending the morning celebrations outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, Ko, who is chairman of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), wrote on Facebook a “happy birthday” message to the Republic of China (ROC) in which he reflected on the nation’s values, and condemned partisan politics and Chinese aggression. In the 110 years since Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) founded Asia’s first democratic republic, the ROC on Taiwan
Ambassador Theaters on Tuesday announced that its Breeze Center cinemas in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) would close late this month after screening thousands of major Hollywood movies and local favorites over two decades. Ambassador Theaters, one of the largest cinema chain operators in Taiwan, said that Oct. 25 would be the last day the Breeze Center cinemas screen movies, adding that its lease expires on that day. “We sincerely appreciate the support and recognition from audiences in Taipei over the past 20 years,” the company said. “We look forward to seeing you again in the future.” The cinemas started operating in 2001, upon
RSS