Environmental activists said yesterday that a land reclamation project is not suited for the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park (彰濱工業區), as the government’s reports have already shown that groundwater in the area contains high levels of arsenic.
The group made the remarks at a public hearing held yesterday at the legislature in Taipei that aimed to address public concern about the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ plan to use industrial waste, such as basic oxygen furnace (BOF) slag and coal ash as landfill material, which could contaminate the area’s groundwater and negatively affect the health of local residents.
The Taiwan Water Resources Protection Union said a land reclamation project creating 353 hectares of land using BOF slag and coal ash as landfill material passed an Environmental Impact Assessment in 2010.
Photo: CNA
However, now with the ministry’s Industrial Development Bureau is proposing another 19.7 hectares of land be reclaimed with BOF slag, the group said it is concerned that heavy metal pollution would spread to nearby wetlands, farms, fish farms and contaminate drinking water.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) said the bureau’s own report in 2010 stated that levels of arsenic, considered carcinogenic, in the groundwater were found to exceed drinking water quality standards by as much as seven times.
The report also showed that groundwater near the coast can flow from the industrial park toward the inland areas, so it could contaminate the groundwater in other areas, Liu said.
He said that the majority of residents still rely on groundwater as their main source of drinking water, so the government should stop the land reclamation project.
Several Greater Kaohsiung residents who live near the South Star Plan area said the government has not effectively monitored landfill material deposited in the area in the past 20 years, leading to medical waste being discovered in the area earlier this year and heavy metal contamination being found in ocean sediment.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator and former Environmental Protection Administration deputy minister Chiu Wen-yen (邱文彥) said he is concerned about the location of the land reclamation, "because unlike Tokyo Bay, which is surrounded by land, Changhua faces the open sea and is hit by stronger waves. If the diffusion effect of seawater is not good enough, the fish farming industry along the coast may be affected."
"We should carefully and comprehensively review this policy, so we don’t end up creating even more problems," he said.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
The Grand Hotel Taipei has rejected media reports claiming that the hotel had prevented CBS from broadcasting coverage of the Beijing summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on its premises. Media reports alleging that the hotel owner, dissatisfied with CBS’s coverage, prohibited the network from broadcasting political content on the hotel premises, are not true, the hotel said in a statement issued last night. The reports were “inconsistent with how the hotel actually handled the matter,” it said. The hotel said it received a refund request from a
RSS