Environmental groups yesterday assisted residents from central Taiwan in filing an administrative lawsuit against the Ministry of Environment, saying there were procedural contraventions in the approval process for the Taichung Power Plant’s gas-fired generator project.
The lawsuit challenges the ministry’s approval of the project’s environmental impact assessment (EIA), saying that the failure to conduct a second-phase EIA review constitutes a breach of procedure.
Proposed last year by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) as part of the government’s “replace coal with gas” energy transition policy, the project cleared its initial EIA review in August last year and was approved by the EIA committee on Oct. 31 the same year.
Photo: CNA
Environmental groups have criticized the fast-track approval as an “EIA Express,” as it did not undergo a second-phase EIA review.
Local residents in December last year filed an administrative appeal with the Executive Yuan, but the appeal was dismissed in May.
In response, 10 people from Taichung, Changhua and Nantou counties, supported by environmental groups, filed a lawsuit yesterday with the Taipei High Administrative Court, seeking to have the ministry revoke the EIA review conclusion.
Government Watch Alliance chief executive officer Hsu Hsin-hsin (許心欣) yesterday told a news conference that the project would install four gas-powered generators in addition to the existing two generators and six coal-fired units, making the plant the world’s largest fossil fuel power plant.
Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association attorney Tsai Ya-ying (蔡雅瀅) said that the EIA committee only requested the developer to submit supplementary documents on the project’s key issues, including on the safety of storage tank arrangements, a coal reduction plan, and measures to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
The committee also failed to convene a second-phase review meeting, she said, adding that bypassing a formal review of the documents constituted a procedural contravention.
Tsai cited a 2013 precedent involving a development project at the Central Taiwan Science Park, in which the Supreme Administrative Court annulled the EIA conclusion on similar procedural grounds.
Additional flaws in the review process included the use of outdated air quality standards, she said.
The EIA review conducted on Oct. 31 last year referenced the previous version of the Standards of Air Quality (空氣品質標準), despite updated amendments having taken effect on Sept. 30, she said, adding that the review failed to assess the potential environmental impact of methane leakage, she added.
All 10 plaintiffs have the right to sue, as air pollution is diffusive in nature and can affect residents across Taichung, Changhua and Nantou counties, she said.
The three administrative areas comprise the central Taiwan air quality region and are subject to offset mechanisms for air pollutant volumes, she added.
Clean Air Taichung Alliance chief executive officer Yueh Hsiang-wen (岳祥文) referenced a report released last month by the International Energy Agency (IEA), which found that more than 99 percent of liquefied natural gas consumed globally last year emitted fewer life-cycle greenhouse gases than coal, with average emissions about 25 percent lower.
However, based on the IEA’s data, the Taichung plant’s six new gas-fired generators are collectively 1.5 times more powerful than the existing coal-fired units and could result in an increase in greenhouse gas emissions ranging from 12.5 percent to as much as 100 percent, he said.
Air Clean Taiwan researcher and Taichung plaintiff Chao Hui-lin (趙慧琳) said that the replacement of coal by gas should occur on a one-to-one basis, adding that retirement plans for gas power generators are necessary to ensure climate justice.
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