A waste disposal firm in Kaohsiung has illegally dumped toxic waste on land next to a poultry farm, lawmakers and environmental groups said yesterday, raising concerns about the possibility of heavy metal pollution in duck meat.
The land is located in the city’s Daliao District (大寮), where three ponds were filled with industrial waste and some unknown substances, Chung Hwa University of Medical Technology associate professor Huang Huan-chang (黃煥彰) said.
After receiving complaints from local residents, environmentalists sampled the soil and found that it contained extremely high concentrations of heavy metals, with the zinc concentration surpassing 60,000 parts per million, 30 times the legal limit, he said.
The levels of lead, copper and chromium in the soil were also higher than allowed by the Soil Pollution Control Standards (土壤污染管制標準), he said, adding that the questionable materials might be toxic dust produced by electric arc furnaces.
The site borders a poultry farm, whose eggs and meat might have been contaminated and ingested by people nationwide, Huang added.
The council on Wednesday sampled some ducks at the farm and test results are to be published in a week, Council of Agriculture Department of Animal Industry specialist Lee Yi-chien (李宜謙) said, adding that the farm, which raises about 19,000 ducks, has been operating for more than 10 years.
Democratic Progressive Party legislators Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) and Chen Man-li (陳曼麗) demanded that the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and other agencies investigate the scope of the pollution.
It is upsetting that such illegal dumping incidents have often been discovered by civil groups instead of environmental agencies, Lin said.
The company, Tien Shan Materials Co (天山資材), has a license to process reusable furnace slag, but would be held responsible if it is found to have been dumping waste on farmland, EPA Bureau of Environmental Inspection senior technical specialist Tsai Peng-pei (蔡蓬培) said.
The bureau on Thursday collected soil samples, but it would take more than a week to finish dioxin concentration testing, bureau Southern Taiwan Office head Wang Shih-chang (王世昌) said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Industrial Development Bureau in October last year ordered the company to halt operations after it was discovered to be dumping industrial waste, Wang added.
Although vehicles transporting industrial waste have been fitted with GPS tracking devices, the EPA lacks personnel and funding to monitor their movements, Taiwan Watch Institute secretary-general Herlin Hsieh (謝和霖) said.
After confirming the makeup and the scope of the pollution, the EPA should re-examine its regulatory system and amend the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法), the groups said.
OFFLINE: People who do not wish to register can get the money from select ATMs using their bank card, ID number and National Health Insurance card number Online registration for NT$6,000 (US$196.32) cash payments drawn from last year’s tax surplus is to open today for eligible people whose national ID or permanent residency number ends in either a zero or a one, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Officials from the ministry revealed which days Taiwanese and eligible foreigners would be able to register for the cash payments at a joint news conference with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Online registration is to open tomorrow for those whose number ends in a two or three; on Friday for those that end in a four or five: on Saturday
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning. The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am. “After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am. The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and
TECH PROGRAM: A US official said that an important part of the delegation’s trip would be to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co executives The US is to send officials in charge of chip development to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea to promote cooperation in the global semiconductor supply chain, the US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. Chips Program Office Director Michael Schmidt announced the visit, which marks the first time officials from the office are to visit the three nations since it was set up in September last year. “As semiconductors and technologies continue to evolve, the United States will keep working with allies and partners to develop coordinated strategies to ensure that malign actors cannot use the latest technologies to undermine our collective
WORKING UP AN APPETITE: Sales at the Rueifong Night Market surged 20 to 30 percent, while seats at Liouhe Night Market were packed until 1am, market officials said South Korean pop band Blackpink’s concerts over the weekend in Kaohsiung helped draw large crowds to local night markets, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday. The two concerts on Saturday and Sunday at Kaohsiung National Stadium drew more than 90,000 people. The city government offered NT$50 vouchers to spend locally to concertgoers who showed their ticket stubs. Liouhe Night Market (六合夜市) management committee head Chuang Chi-chang (莊其章) said that crowds over the weekend surged at about 10pm and the market remained packed until 1:30am. “Almost all the seats were filled,” Chuang said. Night market stall owners had stocked up in expectation of an increased number
RSS