The Tainan City Government yesterday defended its use of recycled material to build a softball field after a legislator called for an investigation into the discovery of broken glass, insufficient soil cover and other issues with the facility.
The field in Syuejia District (學甲) that was converted from a landfill has yet to open, despite construction having been completed for years, New Power Party Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said.
The Tainan City Government spent more than NT$4 million (US$131,130) to convert the site into a softball field and NT$300,000 every year thereafter to maintain it, even though it cannot be used, Chen said.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
Tainan Bureau of Education inspectors last week reported finding broken glass, tiles and bricks on the field, as well as a topsoil layer that was too thin and issues with bottom ash used as backfill, Chen said.
Bottom ash is the incombustible byproduct from incinerated waste, which can be used as building material or combed for metals.
Ash samples were sent for analysis to researchers at Tainan Community College, who were concerned that it might contain excessive heavy metals, she said.
Chen called on the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to conduct its own test for heavy metals.
An EPA inspector said that the project began in 2019 to revitalize the landfill after it reached the end of its permitted lifespan.
The refuse layer is topped with glass pellets then a layer of recycled incinerator aggregates, the inspector said.
There is no problem with using incinerator aggregates in construction as long as they are within standards, the inspector said, adding that the college might have been working with a different set of standards.
Bottom ash must comply with standards before it can be reused, a representative from the Public Construction Commission said.
If excessive heavy metals are detected, the source must be traced, the representative said.
Authorities should investigate the designers of the sporting facility and contractors to determine whether plans met standards and whether it was built according to the design, they said.
The Tainan Environmental Protection Bureau said that all planning and construction conformed with EPA regulations and was supervised from start to finish.
The use of bottom ash and recycled glass pellets is permitted and was part of efforts to promote recycling, it said.
Incinerator aggregates always contain such substances, but the material is seived to keep particles to under 19mm in diameter, it said.
The backfill was compacted three times after each 15cm layer was added to ensure a level surface, on top of which 5cm of high-quality clay was layed, which can be replenished as needed, it added.
Additional reporting by Hung Jui-chin
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS