The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office last week indicted 15 suspects on suspicion of illegally dumping more than 1,000 tonnes of septic sewage and waste oil into the sewer system in Taichung, with five confiscated sewage trucks sold at auction for NT$8.14 million (US$266,144).
The office last year set up the “black water task force” led by prosecutor Hou Yung-chi (侯詠琪) to investigate a reported case of sewage waste management operators allegedly colluding with sewer construction project workers to illegally dispose of septic sewage in the city.
Through a joint collaboration with the National Police Agency’s Seventh Special Police Corps, the Ministry of Environment’s Environmental Management Administration and the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau, the task force tracked suspected vehicles, collected evidence, and finally identified several sewage trucks of two suspected waste management companies.
Photo courtesy of authorities via CNA
On May 6, personnel of the companies were caught on the spot piping septic sewage and waste oil from two sewage trucks into the sewer system via manholes in the city’s Beitun District (北屯).
With search warrants issued by the court, the task force continued to search seven places related to the two suspected companies in Dali District (大里) the same day, where they confiscated two compact excavators and nine sewage trucks.
The administration said the operator used regular sewage trucks to pair up with trucks involved in alleged illegal dumping and illegally disposed of the sludge while pretending to be repairing sewers.
The Seventh Special Police Corps said the total amount of illegally dumped sludge was estimated to be more than 1,000 tonnes.
Prosecutors on Wednesday last week indicted 15 suspects on charges of contravening the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法) and filed a petition with the court to confiscate a total of NT$5.17 million in illegal gains.
The two prime suspects, a 43-year-old man surnamed Su (蘇) and a 40-year-old man surnamed Wu (吳), were detained and held incommunicado, the office said.
Ten alleged coconspirators were released on bail ranging from NT$20,000 to NT$50,000, while the other three were released with a limitation on their residence, it said.
The office unprecedentedly commissioned the Administrative Enforcement Agency’s Taichung branch to sell the confiscated sewage trucks at auction, it said.
Five trucks were sold on Aug. 5 for a total of NT$8.14 million, which was also confiscated by the office.
The sale of the confiscated vehicles was to demonstrate the office’s determination in clamping down on the industrial chain of environmental crimes, the office said.
Additional reporting by Chang Jui-chen
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