Members of the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee yesterday demanded government agencies improve the disaster alert system and establish a national-level petrochemical disaster response center, following a gas explosion at Formosa Plastics Group’s (FPG, 台塑集團) naphtha cracker complex in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮).
The explosion on Sunday occurred at an aromatics production factory run by Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台灣化纖).
It was triggered by liquefied petroleum gas leaking from a cracked pipeline, FPG’s Mailiao management said later that day, adding that there were no casualties.
Photo copied by Lin Kuo-hsien, Taipei Times
The county government fined the firm NT$5 million (US$161,990) for contravening the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法) and ordered it to halt operations at the factory.
The Environmental Protection Administration said that no regulated toxic substances were leaked.
The county government on Wednesday said a preliminary investigation found that the firm had detected a leak at about 9:30am on Sunday, but did not stop operations until 1:45pm, resulting in an explosion at 2:04pm.
To determine if there were any other reasons for the blast, officials would visit the complex on Monday to collect more information, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Chuan-neng (林全能) told the committee yesterday.
The ministry last year began a comprehensive examination of all pipelines at the complex’s 55 factories, Lin said, adding that it is expected to be finished next year.
Such checks should have been completed years ago after several accidents were reported at the complex, committee convener and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) said, expressing fury over Lin’s response.
Liu along with other lawmakers tendered 17 motions requiring several government agencies to improve their disaster response mechanisms and set up a national-level petrochemical disaster response center.
The motions also asked the government to help victims seek compensation and tighten pollution and labor safety regulations at the naphtha cracker complex and other petrochemical factories.
Wu Ming-yi (吳明宜), a representative from the Mailiao Township Office invited to speak at the meeting, cited a female fishery worker living 4km from the complex as saying that she felt dizzy and was deafened in one ear after the blast.
“There must be other unreported injuries. The question is why the government knows nothing about local injuries,” Wu said.
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The New Taipei City Art Museum this weekend plans to celebrate its first anniversary with a two-day extravaganza featuring live concerts and a large-scale synchronized fireworks and drone display, the New Taipei City Cultural Affairs Department said. The two-day celebrations are to take place in the museum’s outdoor park, with markets and live performances by singers including Ann Bai (白安), Bii (畢書盡) and the Cosmos People (宇宙人), the department said. The highlight on both evenings would be the "Echoes of Light" show, an aerial spectacle combining fireworks and drone performances designed around the concept of "dual stages in the sky," it
RSS