Nearly 20,000 air pollution readings a year are labeled invalid due to facility maintenance or malfunctions, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday, rejecting accusations that it conceals or massages data for big polluters.
The Chinese-language Commonwealth Magazine (天下雜誌) on Tuesday last week reported that nearly two out of three pollution readings last year that exceeded legal standards were concealed in the EPA’s continuous emissions monitoring system.
The number of PM2.5 readings in the system that were labeled invalid increased from 20,640 entries in 2016 to 33,661 in 2017 and 39,456 last year, environmental group Air Clean Taiwan told a news conference yesterday, calling on the Control Yuan and judiciary to investigate whether the EPA was derelict in its duties.
The Legislative Yuan’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee would soon require the EPA to report on the matter, said Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國), one of the committee’s two conveners for the current legislative session.
Some air pollution readings are labeled invalid due to regular maintenance on the automatic monitoring devices at the agency’s 77 stations nationwide, EPA Department of Environmental Monitoring and Information Management Deputy Director Wang Yueh-bin (王嶽斌) said.
Last year, the agency recorded 17,314 entries with invalid data, down from 18,853 entries in 2017 and 21,943 in 2016, and lower than Air Clean Taiwan’s figures, because “no data” in entries means that PM2.5 was not tested for and the entries should not be counted, the department said.
The age of some monitoring devices — some are more than 15 years old — can contribute to data problems, Wang said, adding that the agency expects to update devices for measuring PM2.5 concentrations by the end of this year and those for measuring gaseous pollutants by next year.
Even so, available data rates reached 98.05 percent in 2017 and 97.88 percent last year, higher than the national threshold of 75 percent, which is based on US standards, he said.
EPA workers also manually collect air samples from 31 stations nationwide every three days for more careful laboratory testing, he added.
The emissions monitoring system records emissions from 313 exhausts at 108 factories in the cement, steel, waste disposal, petrochemical and paper industries, and the agency plans to tighten regulations governing reporting, Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control technical specialist Chen Yueh-shih (陳月詩) said.
All readings are kept in the system, even if some are labeled invalid, Chen said, adding that local environmental bureaus contact factories when they find unusual entries in the system.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his