Environmental authorities are to meet weekly, monthly or quarterly to improve integration of air pollution control efforts as “air pollution season” starts this month, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.
The nation’s air quality on Wednesday worsened as a southwesterly wind carryied pollutants from China to Taiwan, EPA data showed.
Air quality monitoring stations in western Taiwan and outlying islands showed “red” alerts — meaning air quality was unhealthy for all groups, the data showed.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
Nearly one-third of the nation’s air pollution is from overseas sources, Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Director-General Tsai Meng-yu (蔡孟裕) told a news conference in Taipei.
Over the past two days, state-run Taiwan Power Co reduced power generation at its coal-burning Taichung Power Plant, Sinda Power Plant in Kaohsiung and Linkou Power Plant in New Taipei City, as well as the oil-fired Siehe Power Plant in Keelung, Tsai said.
Between them, the four plants have kept 78 tonnes of sulfur oxides, 76.1 tonnes of nitrogen oxides and 5.9 tonnes of suspended particles from entering the atmosphere, he said.
Local officials are required to increase inspections of pollution sources and washing of streets when air quality is poor, he said, adding that the EPA issues air quality forecasts 72 hours in advance and three air quality reports a day.
To improve tracking of the effects of pollution control efforts, environmental officials in Chiayi County, Chiayi City, Pingtung County, Tainan and Kaohsiung, would meet once every week from this month to March next year, Tsai said.
Officials in central Taiwan would have monthly meetings, while those in the north would meet once every quarter, he said.
At the first meeting in the south, which was hosted by EPA Deputy Minister Shen Chih-hsiu (沈志修), Pingtung County Government officials asked the agency to help prevent farmers from burning agricultural waste, while other officials asked for help analyzing air pollutants, Tsai said.
Factories pay additional pollution fees in the autumn and winter and they are to be increased to encourage firms to cut pollution, department section chief Su I-yun (蘇意筠) said.
Air quality from today through Monday is not expected to improve much, especially in central areas, where reduced wind speed is less likely to disperse pollution, the EPA said.
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
RSS