Environmental officials in Hsinfeng township (新豐鄉), Hsinchu County, confirmed the existence of a 10-year-old mercury-tainted waste dumping site that has remained hidden for more than 10 years.
Accompanied by environmentalists, Hsinchu County Commissioner Lin Kwang-hua (
"This is disgusting. Some nearby residents still rely on groundwater [for drinking]," Lin said.
PHOTO: HUNG MEI-HSIU, LIBERTY TIMES
The illegal dumping site, covering 140m2 of Hsinfeng township, was discovered by residents living close to the site.
Environmental inspectors collected samples at the waste site yesterday and discovered mercury contaminating both the soil and groundwater.
Residents were terrified by the discovery because they have been drinking groundwater for many years.
"The worst is that water accumulating at the site has run over into nearby fish ponds during the recent heavy rains," one local resident said.
Officials confirmed that the mercury-tainted waste was generated by Miaoli County-based China General Plastics Corporation, but the amount of the waste disposed of is still unknown.
Commissioner Lin ordered environmental officials to contain the runoff in order to prevent further pollution of the groundwater.
Lin added that prosecutors will soon begin an investigation into the illegal dumping.
Environmental specialists from the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), a research center in charge of analyzing waste, told the Taipei Times yesterday that they estimate the mercury-tainted waste was about 30cm thick.
Chang Yee-tsan (
"We are currently analyzing about 15m3 of unidentified waste found alongside the contaminated site," Chang said.
CGPC is one of seven plastics companies which once generated mercury-tainted waste. No such waste has been generated since July 1989, when the government prohibited plastics companies from using mercury in their plastics-making processes.
How much mercury-tainted waste still exists is unclear, however, because of the inconsistency of statistics taken by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB).
EPA estimates show that there is currently 30,000 tonnes of mercury-tainted waste in Taiwan but IDB figures show that figure to be 100,000 tonnes.
Formosa Plastics Corporation shipped 2,700 tonnes of mercury-tainted waste to Cambodia in 1998 but succumbed to international pressure and shipped the toxic waste -- along with the soil it contaminated, totalling 4,600 tonnes -- back to Taiwan in 1999.
In the wake of the international scandal, environmentalists criticized the government for its failure in managing hazardous industrial waste and urged the administration to trace existing hazardous industrial waste. Several illegal dump sites were exposed last year.
At a site in Hsinyuan township (新園鄉), Pingtung County, 7,000 tonnes of mercury-tainted waste generated by Formosa Plastics were discovered. That waste has been packed in barrels but is still sitting at the site because no final disposal site has been made available.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
RSS