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
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to
RSS