Residents of Taoyuan’s Guolin Borough yesterday launched a mass protest outside the Taoyuan City Government over what they said was Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan’s (鄭文燦) “backpedaling” and “inaction” over pollution caused by Yu Hung Technology Co (宇鴻科技), a waste processing firm, which allegedly dumped large quantities of untreated waste into a former irrigation pond.
The protesters said that Cheng was a vocal opponent of Yu Hung’s alleged pollution of Shenmei Pond (滲眉埤) during his election campaign in November last year, during which he demanded that the firm’s operations be suspended and that authorities investigate emissions from the firm’s incinerator, which residents blame for what they said was an increased prevalence of cancer in the area.
However, more than five months since Cheng’s inauguration, Yu Hung is still in operation and the Taoyuan City Government Department of Environmental Protection has not designated the pond a site for environmental remediation.
Photo: Lin Chin, Taipei Times
Citing the Soil and Groundwater Pollution Remediation Act (土壤及地下水污染整治法), Taiwan Watch Institute secretary-general Herlin Hsieh (謝和霖) said the bureau’s inaction could only mean one of two things: Either the bureau dutifully investigated Shenmei Pond and found no pollution or it is colluding with Yu Hung to conceal the firm’s illegal conduct.
The Guolin Community Development Association’s Wang Shiu-chu said that the fumes from Yu Hung’s smokestacks emit an acidic and rancid smell, which pervades the air at night.
She said the fumes are suffocating and that residents often have to close their windows to be able sleep, but every time a resident files a report with the bureau, inspection personnel show up after the smell has dissipated.
Green Formosa Front standing director Lin Chang-mao (林長茂) said that the firm is affiliated with politicians from both the pan-green and pan-blue camps.
He warned of possible influence peddling by officials on behalf of Yu Hung.
The mayor yesterday promised protesters that he would order Yu Hung to suspend operations.
Guolin Borough Warden Chen Hsi-ta (陳錫達) said that after several environmentalists reported the firm’s alleged violations to the Control Yuan late last month, he has been approached by politicians from both political camps who expressed concern over the issue, which previously received little attention from politicians.
Chen said the politicians who approached him included Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井), who called him to request the name of the Control Yuan member who took the case, which Chen did not give.
He said that he was recently approached by a stranger carrying two duffle bags filled with NT$2,000 bills who told him that if yesterday’s protest was canceled, the money would be “all his.”
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