State-run Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar, 台糖), food supplier Vedan Enterprise Corp (味丹) and meat supplier Great Wall Enterprise Co (大成長城企業) were among the nation’s top water polluters last year, the Green Citizens’ Action Alliance said yesterday.
The group is developing a mobile application so that people can see companies’ pollution records, it added.
The alliance sifted through Environmental Protection Administration data to identify the top 20 water polluters last year and gave four companies its “Golden Pollution Award” at a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Lo Chi, Taipei Times
Yuan Tai Industrial Co (沅泰工業), an electroplating factory built on farmland with a temporary permit, incurred the largest fine — NT$11.49 million (US$379,509) — for three pollution incidents, alliance member Ko Chien-yung (柯乾庸) said.
Yuan Tai was ordered to suspend operations in January last year, he said.
It was caught discharging contaminated water through concealed pipes, with the effluent having a pH of 0.1 and nickel levels 330 times higher than legal standards, Ko said, adding that it had been doing so for at least five years.
The company was allowed to resume operations at the same location in October, showing that the Factory Management Act (工廠管理輔導法) fails to regulate plants with temporary permits and exposes agricultural areas to industrial pollution, he said.
Taisugar, the nation’s biggest agricultural enterprise, last year received fines totaling more than NT$1.39 million for 13 incidents, the highest number of incidents on the list, Ko said.
The state-run utility has contravened water pollution control regulations more than 40 times since 2016, he said.
Great Wall was fined more than NT$1.27 million for six incidents last year, alliance deputy secretary-general Tseng Hung-wen (曾虹文) said.
While the company promotes environmental protection on some hog farms, its farm in Changhua County last year was fined NT$1.05 million for discharging polluted water, she said, adding that it has “double standards.”
Vedan, known for its bottled water brand “More Water” (多喝水), last year was fined NT$3.32 million for six contraventions, including discharging polluted water without proper treatment or permits, she said.
Taisugar, Great Wall and Vedan, which earn billions of New Taiwan dollars every year, are unable to properly manage their effluent, she said, adding that they might think consumers are ignorant of their records.
To encourage people to purchase brands that are more environmentally friendly, the alliance is developing a mobile app that can show product manufacturers’ pollution records, she said.
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