Residents from six townships in Pingtung County are expected to protest the transfer later this week of thousands of barrels of toxic waste classified as extremely hazardous by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), to a landfill in Fangliao township (
The waste was discovered earlier this year at a site in Hsinpi township (
The waste had been dumped on a plot of land owned by state-run Taiwan Sugar Company (
Officials from the Union Chemical Laboratory under Industrial Technology Research Institute (
According to the lab, several toxic components have been identified in the waste, including Pentachlorophenol, or PCP (?-氯*?, which has been used heavily during the past decades in the manufacture of fertilizer, pesticides and wood preservatives.
The EPA classified PCP as a Class I toxic chemical substance in 1989 because of its carcinogenic chemical properties.
Local residents living nearby were concerned by the findings and asked for a health-risk assessment because the waste had been there for decades.
According to results of medical tests carried out by Kaoshiung Medical University, 1.7 percent of residents suffer from liver dysfunction and neural disorders.
The problems are suspected to be associated with exposure to PCP.
Residents from six townships, including Fangliao, Chiatung (佳冬), Hsinpi (新埤), Chunjih (春??, Linpien (林邊), Fangshan (枋?s), have been protesting since the Fangliao Landfill Management Committee decided last weekend to accept the waste.
Led by Chou Lien-fang (周聯芳) and Cheng Yung-chang (鄭永31), both members of township representative committees in Chiatung and Fangliao, residents protested the decision which was made by 15 members of a closed committee.
Residents said they would block roads to the landfill later this week.
EPA officials have said residents are over-reacting.
"The waste to be sent should not be a problem at all because it has been classified by the lab as non-hazardous garbage," said Su Mao-sheng (
Su said because the waste is non-hazardous, the EPA would suggest breaking barrels before dumping the waste to make the it more compacted
"It's a long-term job for us to dig, analyze and classify the waste at the site in Hsinpi. That's why we have to transfer part of the discovered solid waste to a public landfill to clear more space for us," said the lab's manager, Chang Yi-tsan (
Chang added that the amount of waste is much more than expected. By last weekend, Chang said, 3,265 barrels of solid and fluid waste had been discovered at the site, covering three hectares of land.
However, they estimate that there still may be more than 1,000 barrels buried deep underground.
The fluid toxic waste discovered, Chang said, would be stored temporarily at the site because an industrial hazardous waste dump is not currently available, but he did not know how long the toxic waste would have to be stored there.
"We hope the land owner (Taiwan Sugar Company) will solve the problem as soon as possible because some hazardous components will vaporize."
Tsai Jin-lian (1/22錦蓮), Director of the Poison Control Center at Kaohsiung Medical University, yesterday expressed concern about the planned method of dumping the industrial waste.
"Breaking barrels before dumping the waste is dangerous because the EPA has not ensured that they have monitored all components of the toxic waste. If the PCP enters the food chain, people's health will be seriously threatened," said Tsai.
So far, EPA officials have limited data regarding the actual chemical content of the waste and are uncertain if its toxicity constitutes a danger. They also lack information about the enterprise which produced the waste dumped illegally by their contracted waste handler, Yun Tai Corp. (
The hazardous dump at Hsinpi is one of hundreds of illegal-dumping sites in Taiwan.
Following the passage in July of the Waste Disposal Act, companies who contract waste handlers can also be punished for illegally dumped waste.
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