Hundreds of residents of Changhua County’s Jhutang Township (竹塘) yesterday rallied in front of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) office in Taipei to protest against the Central Taiwan Science Park’s fourth-phase expansion plan, which they said could contaminate thousands of hectares of farmland.
About 600 demonstrators took over a pavement in front of the agency before a scoping meeting for the project, blaring horns and holding up banners that read: “Protests against turning quality rice into toxic rice.”
The proposed expansion, which is undergoing a second-stage environmental impact assessment (EIA), calls for the construction of an underground pipeline to carry effluent from the science park’s base in Erlin (二林) through Jhutang before flowing out into the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪).
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Chi Tsung-cheng (紀宗成), leader of a local self-help group, said that Jhutang produces some of the nation’s best agricultural products.
Jhutang rice has often been selected by the Council of Agriculture as one of the nation’s top 10 rice products, Chi said.
The town also boasts thousands of hectares of watermelon farms, he said.
If the proposed pipeline is ruptured during an earthquake, chemicals being transported from the science park would seep through the soil and into groundwater used for irrigation, Chi said.
“Once the farmland is contaminated, it will be impossible for future generations to grow anything there,” he said.
Jhutang is about 14m to 18m higher than Erlin in altitude, and a heavy-duty water pump will be needed to transport effluents from the park, increasing the chances of a pipeline explosion as well as driving up operating costs, Jhutang Township Mayor Chuang Yi-lieh (莊宜洌) said.
Having such a pipeline pass though Jhutang would also jeopardize its produce sales, Chuang said.
When the EPA was reviewing Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co’s plan to set up a petrochemical complex near the township, Chuang said one of his customers told him that he would never buy rice from Jhutang if the firm operates close to the community.
Fangyuan Township (芳苑) Anti-Pollution Self-help Group head Lin Lien-tsung (林連宗) said that about 100,000 people live in Fangyuan, Jhutang and Dacheng (大城) — an area known as the Changhua Southwest End — who depend on groundwater for their everyday needs, and the science park’s plan poses a serious threat to public health.
The protesters delivered their petitions to EPA, council and science park officials who attended the scoping meeting.
The EIA committee said it would forward the opinions recorded yesterday to the EIA grand assembly.
The planned expansion aims to set up a precision machinery complex in Erlin Township and would cover 631 hectares.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS