Waste found on the coast of Hsinchu County’s Hsinfeng Township (新豐) has been confirmed as toxic slag from a steelmaker’s furnace with a dioxin concentration level of up to a 4,470 toxic equivalency, a Hsinchu County Environmental Protection Bureau official said yesterday.
In June, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) and several environmentalists revealed that bags containing slag had been dumped on the coast near the township’s Fengbi Tunnel (鳳鼻隧道) for more than 20 years, with some flowing into the ocean.
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) had promised to probe the pollution and investigate which company was accountable.
Photo: Liao Hsueh-ju, Taipei Times
The waste is spread over about 2km of coastline and measures about 35,629m3, including 1,380m3 of toxic waste and 4,268m3 of slag, as well as construction waste and household garbage, bureau Deputy Director-General Lo Shih-chen (羅仕臣) said, citing EPA data.
The bureau would submit a cleanup proposal to the EPA in coming days and expects to spend between NT$20 million and NT$30 million (US$662,581 and US$993,871) on removing the waste and building structures to protect the coastline, Lo said.
The waste was found to contain high concentrations of iron, zinc and lead.
The soil was not found to have been polluted as it had dioxin concentration levels within normal standards, Lo said.
The slag “has polluted our coastline in Hsinfeng for two or three decades,” former Fengkeng Village (鳳坑) warden Chiang Cheng-kun (姜政焜) said on Thursday, adding that the government should remove it as soon as possible.
As slag from an electric arc furnace contains high levels of heavy metals, EPA officials should prevent the slag from mixing with the soil or seawater when removing it, Chung Hwa University of Medical Technology associate professor Huang Huan-chang (黃煥彰) said.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
RSS