Toxic air pollution caused by the nation’s sixth naphtha cracker complex in Mailiao Township (麥寮), Yunlin County, has not just affected that county, but has spread south to Chiayi and Tainan counties at an even higher density, an academic said.
Yen You-li (顏有利), an associate professor at Miaoli County National United University’s Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, made the remarks on Thursday at a workshop assessing an overall industrial examination of Formosa Plastics Group’s (FPG) petrochemical complex.
Ozone from volatile organic compounds discharged from factories in the FPG petrochemical complex have been carried south, Yen said.
Citing the results of a quantitative study conducted between 1994 and last year, Yen said the ozone density monitored in Chiayi’s Singang Township (新港) has been as high as 221 parts per billion (ppb), much higher than the allowed level of 120ppb.
The ozone density monitored in Tainan City and County was also higher than that found in Yunlin County and its neighboring Changhua County, Yen said, adding that ozone can cause coughing and allergies.
Meanwhile, the density of sulfur dioxide in the air at Yunlin County’s Taisi Township (台西) was found to be exceptionally high and complaints lodged by local residents had also increased noticeably since the petrochemical complex was built, Yen said.
FPG said it would not comment on the discussions until the two-day workshop ended.
The Chiayi County Government said it was paying close attention to the workshop and results of the findings. If finances permit, the county government will launch a health risk assessment drive in the county, it said.
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
Tourism in Kenting fell to a historic low for the second consecutive year last year, impacting hotels and other local businesses that rely on a steady stream of domestic tourists, the latest data showed. A total of 2.139 million tourists visited Kenting last year, down slightly from 2.14 million in 2024, the data showed. The number of tourists who visited the national park on the Hengchun Peninsula peaked in 2015 at 8.37 million people. That number has been below 2.2 million for two years, although there was a spike in October last year due to multiple long weekends. The occupancy rate for hotels
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
RSS