After the Democratic Progressive Party (DDP) took office last year, epidemiological studies into the naphtha cracker in Yunlin’s Mailiao Township (麥寮) were stopped, academic Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權) said at a forum in Taipei yesterday.
The forum on air pollution, titled “I Breathe, I Decide,” was organized by National Taiwan University’s Risk Society and Policy Research Center and the Fubon Cultural and Educational Foundation.
Chan, who is vice dean of National Taiwan University College of Public Health, said his studies commissioned by the Changhua and Yunlin county governments were concluded last year and in March respectively.
Despite his persistent inquiries about extending the research, the local and central governments have no plans to do so, he said, adding that he is the only academic researching the environmental influence of Formosa Petrochemical Corp’s naphtha crackers.
Last month, Chan published a study about cancer risks in Changhua’s Dacheng (大城) and Jhutang (竹塘) townships, north of the cracker in Yunlin.
The study found that cancer and death rates were correlated with toxic emissions from the plant.
The sour smell that local residents often complain about is from high concentrations of formic acid, a carcinogenic substance, in the air, possibly from the plant, Chan said.
Despite changes of government over the decades, air pollution in Yunlin and Changhua continue to worsen, he said, adding that the locals smell not only the sourness, but also the “intense smell of politics.”
Chan said he had suggested the government choose between closing the plant or closing the nearby Ciaotou Elementary School’s Syucuo (許厝) branch, and the government chose the latter.
“Will the government choose differently this year, either the plant’s closure or the displacement of Changhua’s Dacheng and Yunlin’s Mailiao townships?” Chan asked.
He called on the government to continue epidemiological studies about petrochemical plant emissions, adding that studies should also be undertaken in Taoyuan, Taichung and Kaohsiung and Nantou, Chiayi, Pingtung and Penghu counties.
At the forum, US-based Society for Social Studies of Science Council member Gwen Ottinger said that she advocated “epistemic justice” in the fight against air pollution.
“Epistemic injustice means treating someone unfairly in his or her capacity as knower because of their structurally marginalized identity,” she said.
She encouraged people in polluted areas to gather data and to articulate their “lived experiences of pollution,” to challenge officials’ and experts’ categorization systems.
SELF-RELIANCE: Taiwan would struggle to receive aid in the event of an invasion, so it must prepare to ‘hold its own’ for the first 70 days of a war, a defense expert said Taiwan should strengthen infrastructure, stock up on reserves and step up efforts to encourage Taiwanese to fight against an enemy, legislators and experts said on Tuesday last week. The comments sought to summarize what the nation should learn from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has exceeded 300 days, since Feb. 24 last year. Institute of National Defense and Security Research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said that the war in Ukraine highlighted the importance of being ready for war. Taiwan’s development of an “asymmetrical warfare” doctrine and extending mandatory conscription to one year is a good start to preparation of defense against a
The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday said it would delay the lifting of the indoor mask mandate, citing public health considerations and ongoing discussions on how the policy should be implemented. Earlier this week, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said officials from several ministries were working on the policy and an announcement would be made yesterday. However, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, yesterday said that the policy was still under review. Wang said its implementation would be “delayed slightly” due to three main factors. First, the center
END OF SERIES: As the first generation of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are set to expire, the CECC would no longer offer them to children younger than four years old The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported the nation’s first case of a person infected with the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2. The Taiwanese man in his 20s arrived from Canada on Jan. 22, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), who is deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division. He tested positive after reporting having a runny nose and muscle soreness while in airport quarantine, Lo said. The XBB.1.5 subvariant is the dominant strain in the US, but there is no evidence to suggest that it causes more severe illness than other Omicron subvariants, he said,
NORMALIZING TIES: The delegation led by the KMT’s Johnny Chiang is to meet with British lawmakers, think tanks and business groups to discuss developments A legislative delegation led by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) arrived in the UK yesterday to rally support for Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Chiang heads the Legislative Yuan’s Taiwan-UK Interparliamentary Amity Association. The delegation also includes KMT legislators Ma Wen-chun (馬文君), Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞), Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), Sandy Yu (游毓蘭) and Wu I-ding (吳怡玎). The group is to meet with British lawmakers Alicia Kearns, who chairs the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee; Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the House Defence Select Committee; and Bob Stewart, who cochairs the
RSS