Tainan County Commissioner Mark Chen (
Chen told EPA head Hau Lung-bin (
Several prominent local politicians also expressed their support for Chen, including DPP lawmaker Lee Chun-yee (
Hau apologized to Chen for the EPA's decision to build such a depository without notifying the local government first. He said that the idea actually originated with a suggestion by Taiwan Sugar Corp (台糖) which operates the Sha Lun Farm (沙崙農場) where the 78-hectare waste depository, the first such facility in Taiwan, will be built.
Hau said the EPA was optimistic that the facility would help attract high-tech firms to the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park (
He promised to offer both residents and the local government satisfactory compensation. According to details released yesterday, the EPA will pay NT$4.5 million per hectare before the depository begins operations. After the facility is running, Taiwan Sugar will offer follow-up compensation.
Hau stressed yesterday afternoon in Taipei that the EPA would carry out the project regardless, as it was approved by the Cabinet in January.
Hau said that protesting residents might not be fully aware of the importance of such well-designed final depositories for industrial waste.
"We will keep communicating with local residents until they accept the idea," Hau said.
EPA officials explained that such depositories were for industrial waste that could not be recycled.
Leu Horng-guang (
"Taiwan produces 18 million tonnes of industrial waste each year, half of which can in fact be recycled," Leu said. But that which cannot be recycled needs to be deposited in a landfill.
EPA officials said that residue collected from waste incinerators, including toxic fly ash and bottom ash, would be sent to designated depositories. They stressed that toxic fly ash would be stabilized before storage and then kept apart from other waste.
The project to manage industrial waste approved by the Cabinet in January was drawn up by the EPA and Taiwan Sugar Corp under the Industrial Development Bureau.
According to the project, two final depositories for industrial waste, occupying a total of 60 hectares, are to be available by December next year.
The EPA hopes to build two 30-hectare facilities, one in central Taiwan and the other in the south. Because of the urgent need for waste disposal, however, it plans to have a 10-hectare final depository available by April next year.
Currently, Taiwan Sugar Corp has a 72-hectare site in Kueijen township in Tainan County and a 78-hectare site in Tacheng township (
EPA officials said that the two locations were undergoing environmental impact assessments.
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