The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday finished the scoping process for the Central Taiwan Science Park’s (CTSP) Erlin Base (二林) in Changhua County.
Under the agreements reached during scoping meetings, the Central Taiwan Science Park Administration must conduct analyses of potential effluents, fumes, noise and heavy metal buildup in marine life in the waters off the estuary of the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪) after carrying out simulations of on-site operations.
Although only one firm, a medical equipment manufacturer, has expressed an interest in establishing a plant at the site since the location was announced for the science park’s fourth-phase expansion in 2008, the analyses should be conducted assuming the park is operating at its full capacity, the EPA said.
In addition, a health risk assessment of residents living within a 15km radius of the base is to be administered, the agency ruled.
Changhua County Environmental Protection Union director Shih Yueh-yinig (施月英) took issue with the way officials assessed alternatives to the construction of an outflow pipe. The proposed pipe currently extends to a zone where seawater is 20m deep, but Shih said that officials from the EPA and the science park should not rule out the possibility of building the pipe to the low-tide line, which is closer to the shore.
Even though the first alternative would be more efficient in diluting seawater, CTSP officials during a previous session cited potential technical difficulties accompanying the option, she said.
She also asked science park officials to assess land to vegetation and flood retention pools required for the expansion plan.
Despite the environmentalist’s vehement protests, the Environmental Impact Assessment committee ended the scoping meeting without considering her suggestions.
Thirty-five earthquakes have exceeded 5.5 on the Richter scale so far this year, the most in 14 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said on Facebook on Thursday. A large earthquake in Hualien County on April 3 released five times as much the energy as the 921 Earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, the agency said in its latest earthquake report for this year. Hualien County has had the most national earthquake alerts so far this year at 64, with Yilan County second with 23 and Changhua County third with nine, the agency said. The April 3 earthquake was what caused the increase in
INTIMIDATION: In addition to the likely military drills near Taiwan, China has also been waging a disinformation campaign to sow division between Taiwan and the US Beijing is poised to encircle Taiwan proper in military exercise “Joint Sword-2024C,” starting today or tomorrow, as President William Lai (賴清德) returns from his visit to diplomatic allies in the Pacific, a national security official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said that multiple intelligence sources showed that China is “highly likely” to launch new drills around Taiwan. Although the drills’ scale is unknown, there is little doubt that they are part of the military activities China initiated before Lai’s departure, they said. Beijing at the same time is conducting information warfare by fanning skepticism of the US and
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is unlikely to attempt an invasion of Taiwan during US president-elect Donald Trump’s time in office, Taiwanese and foreign academics said on Friday. Trump is set to begin his second term early next year. Xi’s ambition to establish China as a “true world power” has intensified over the years, but he would not initiate an invasion of Taiwan “in the near future,” as his top priority is to maintain the regime and his power, not unification, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University distinguished visiting professor and contemporary Chinese politics expert Akio Takahara said. Takahara made the comment at a
DEFENSE: This month’s shipment of 38 modern M1A2T tanks would begin to replace the US-made M60A3 and indigenous CM11 tanks, whose designs date to the 1980s The M1A2T tanks that Taiwan expects to take delivery of later this month are to spark a “qualitative leap” in the operational capabilities of the nation’s armored forces, a retired general told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview published yesterday. On Tuesday, the army in a statement said it anticipates receiving the first batch of 38 M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks from the US, out of 108 tanks ordered, in the coming weeks. The M1 Abrams main battle tank is a generation ahead of the Taiwanese army’s US-made M60A3 and indigenously developed CM11 tanks, which have
RSS