Although the government has done everything it can to quell public opposition to a planned petrochemical complex along the coast of Changhua County, most notably by cutting the size of the proposed project, academics yesterday continued to voice their opposition, saying that downsized evil is still evil.
“The government decided to downsize the project [by Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co (KKPTC)] because it knows that [the petrochemical industry] is a heavily polluting one. However, if the government admits it’s an evil, are we supposed to now accept the idea just because its been reduced in size?” Fan Yun (范雲), an -associate professor of sociology at National Taiwan University, asked at a press conference.
“If a pot of porridge has gone bad, are we supposed to eat it just because the government asks us to eat only half a pot, not the whole pot?” she said.
Fan went on to say that, the name of the company kuokuang (國光, glory of the nation), should be changed to guochi (國恥, shame of the nation).
The project has been highly controversial ever since it was first announced several years ago, as the selected site on the north side of the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪) contains ecologically diverse and sensitive wetlands, and is also an important site for fishing and agriculture such as oyster and fish-farming.
Taking the example of another petrochemical complex built by the Formosa Plastics Group located on the south side of the Jhuoshuei River as an example, Research Center for Biodiversity director Chou Chang-hung (周昌弘) said that, despite promises from the company, pollution caused by the petrochemical plant had resulted in a sharp reduction in farm produce in surrounding areas.
“In addition, in order to supply enough water for the high water-consuming oil refineries, the government built a dam upstream on the Jhuoshuei River to send the water directly to the oil refineries, causing drought in Yunlin County,” he said. “This is why many farmers had to use ground water, and the overuse of such water has caused the ground to sink.”
As the Kuokuang project is expected to use around 40,000 tonnes of water — more than the total amount of water used in all -Changhua County, which uses about 38 tonnes daily — Chou is worried that the new oil refinery could make Changhua County as dry as Yunlin County.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇), a long-time environmentalist, said that along with the Formosa Plastics Group oil refineries already in existence, “the Kuokuang oil refineries would destroy agricultural activity in both Changhua and Yunlin counties, which are Taiwan’s major farm production area.”
“Will we only realize that we cannot eat money after the last tree is cut down, the last river is polluted and the last fish is caught?” said Mingdao University president Chen Shih-shiung (陳世雄), an agricultural specialist.
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