Hundreds of Taoyuan County residents protested at the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday, demanding that it revoke a resolution allowing two flat-panel manufacturers to discharge wastewater into the Laojie River (老街溪).
The 36.7km long river flows through Longtan Township (龍潭), Pingjhen City (平鎮), Jhongli City (中壢) and Dayuan Township (大園) in Taoyuan County.
RESOLUTION
Photo: CNA
The river has been the focus of media attention recently because AU Optronics (AUO) and Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) will soon be allowed to discharge wastewater into the Laojie River, following a resolution made at the EPA’s Environmental Impact Assessment Committee in 2009.
Located in Longtan, the two flat-panel firms originally discharged wastewater into the Siaoli River (霄裡溪) in Hsinchu County. The resolution allowed the companies to switch the discharge of wastewater to the Laojie River instead.
Hoever, the Taoyuan County Government has yet to approve the two companies’ applications to discharge wastewater. The Hsinchu County Government requested the EPA to resolve the dispute between the counties as its permits granted to the two companies expire either this year or next year.
Environmental Protection Administration Minister Stephen Shen (沈世宏) indicated in the committee meeting last month that the central government was able to grant the permits if the county refused to do so.
Protestors from Longtan, Pingjhen, Jhongli and Dayuan yesterday asked the agency to revoke the resolution and to apologize to all the county’s residents.
CONTAMINATED
Lu Yu-ling (呂玉玲), executive director of the Saving Laojie River Actions Alliance, said wastewater discharged by the two companies into the Siaoli River has contaminated water used to irrigate farmland.
She said the white rice grown along the river has been found to contain levels of mercury exceeding the government standard.
“The solution is that the CPT and AUO must be asked to follow the government standard when discharging wastewater,” Lu said
Several borough chiefs from the area said the county has about 1,000 hectares of farmland and approximately half of them are irrigated using water drawn from Laojie River.
Unless the companies can prove their wastewater is not contaminated, residents oppose allowing them to discharge the water into the Laojie River.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe