A group of parents from Taipei City's Neihu and Nangang districts yesterday lashed out at the city government's proposal to burn all the trash at the Neihu Refuse Incineration Plant, saying they were worried about the effects of poisonous emissions on their children.
The Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection's plan to clean up the dump, which has not been used for 22 years, would mean it would take about five years to burn all the trash.
"There are 15 hectares of trash to be burned. It is a threat to local residents' health," Cheng Shao-wei (鄭紹偉), a parent from Nangang and Neihu Parents' Association, said yesterday in Neihu.
According to Cheng, there are 26 schools within 3km of the plant, and more than 700,000 students and residents living nearby. As the department failed to recycle plastic bottles or bags at the time, the emission of poisonous Dioxins from burning the trash for the next five years would affect people's health, he added.
Chao Hsiao-lung (趙筱瓏), director of the Parent Teacher Association at Taipei Municipal Lihu Elementary School in Neihu, claimed that the dioxins released by the plant have been higher than at other incineration plants, and that the department had failed to conduct regular environmental assessments.
"The plant is located between fast-developing Neihu and Nangang districts. The burning of the trash will not only threaten the health of local residents, but all of the 3 million residents in Taipei will be in danger," Chao said.
In response, director of the Neihu Incineration Plant Wu Feng-shan (吳芳山) said the department had planned to start the burning last Monday, but did not do so after local residents complained about the plan.
The department acknowledged that it had not asked the plant to do a full recycle of the trash, and said it would make sure that the plant did recycle before the burning.
Parents from 26 schools in Neihu and environmentalists will hold a public hearing with director of the department Stephen Shen (沈世宏) this morning to discuss the issue.
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