The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has approved an environmental impact assessment for a project to build a third runway at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
An EPA committee meeting on March 25 approved the assessment after the airport’s operator, Taoyuan International Airport Corp, promised to bolster disaster prevention and control measures, and hold one aircraft rescue or firefighting drill every year, as the planned runway is close to an oil storage facility operated by CPC Corp, Taiwan.
The airport company also promised to conserve more than 1,000 trees in the project area by transplanting them to a different location when construction starts and returning them to the site later.
However, several environmental protection groups issued a joint statement saying that the committee passed the project without conducting a thorough assessment of risks posed by the oil depot or relocation fees for land expropriation.
It is estimated that 2,599 hectares of land would have to be expropriated for the project and an estimated 6,190 households with more than 16,000 residents would be forced to relocate, the statement said.
The groups said they do not rule out filing an appeal to seek an administrative remedy.
The company said that the project is part of the airport’s efforts to expand its facilities and upgrade its services in accordance with the government’s Taoyuan Aerotropolis project and its goal to boost the local economy.
As the airport is the nation’s main gateway, there is an urgent need for a third runway, it said.
Once a third runway is built in the airport’s north, the runway in the south would be used less frequently, reducing air and noise pollution in the area, the company said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS