Residents of the Houjin (後勁) community in Kaohsiung’s Nanzi District (楠梓) have been upset to find that there are still oil storage facilities at a nearby CPC Corp, Taiwan oil refinery that was shut down on Thursday night following a protest movement that lasted more than a quarter-century.
Concerned about pollution from the refinery, local residents began protesting in 1987 after the central government said that the CPC’s fifth naphtha cracker would be built in the neighborhood.
The protests were often fierce and confrontational, with a group of residents and students tying protest banners to the Kaohsiung refinery’s flare stack in 1990.
Photo: CNA
The company finally cut a deal with the residents to provide subsidies to them and to relocate the plant in 25 years.
The refinery and the cracker officially ceased operations on Thursday night and the company provided buses to take residents to the plant to inspect it.
However, many were unhappy to find that oil tanks remain at the site.
Many residents, along with Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Shih-lung (黃石龍) and Citizen of the Earth Taiwan volunteers, accused CPC of dragging its feet and waiting until the last moment to move the facility.
The presence of gas and oil products in the tanks drew criticism, with residents saying the company has lost all credibility.
Lee Ken-cheng (李根政), the director-general of Citizen of the Earth Taiwan, said that he felt he had to shoulder the bulk of the responsibility for the situation because he had served as a bridge between the residents and the company.
Lee said he would continue to collect the opinions of the residents and ask that the company set a deadline to dispose of the fuel tanks and other facilities on the premises.
CPC said it agreed to make a full report to the Houjin Social Welfare Foundation by Jan. 11.
Despite the complaints and dissatisfaction over the remaining tanks, residents marked the end of the refinery’s operations and New Year’s Eve with a party in front of a local temple.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) also attended the party and said that “Twenty-five painful years have come to an end.”
However, she also told residents that she would not accept the 20-year cleanup plan proposed by the CPC, and urged that the process be made more efficient.
Chen said she took part in the protests against the refinery 25 years ago and promised that the city government would keep an eye on the cleanup.
Other former student protesters from 25 years ago also attended the party, including Chen Hsin-hsing (陳信行), who is now a professor at Shih Hsin University.
He said he had been very disappointed at the government’s announcement 25 years ago and was left thinking it was a lie.
However, when he said that when he heard the refinery was really going to be shuttered, he did not quite know what to think, but now his dreams have come true.
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