The Ministry of Environment yesterday said it has traced a major pollution source in a Keelung River (基隆河) oil contamination probe to a repair depot operated by a maintenance contractor for Kuo-Kuang Motor Transport Co (國光客運).
Inspectors searching high-risk areas around the Badu pumping station on Monday found the depot discharging wastewater without a permit, operating without treatment facilities and storing oil without required spill-containment structures — all serious contraventions of the Water Pollution Control Act (水污染防治法), the ministry said in a statement.
The Keelung Environmental Protection Bureau cited the company on the spot and ordered an immediate halt to operations, it added.
Photo: Lu Hsien-hsiu, Taipei Times
The ministry said other potential pollution sources have also been identified, with an environmental task force and police gathering evidence.
The investigation follows instances of oily odors detected in tap water in several Keelung districts and parts of New Taipei City since late last month.
In response, the ministry convened an emergency meeting directing Taiwan Water Corp to strengthen early-warning measures.
These include more frequent patrols, keeping oil booms and absorbent pads at intake points, conducting raw-water odor checks every two hours, accelerating deployment of new in-water oil-monitoring sensors, and assessing whether raw water should be routed through the Xinshan Reservoir for quality stabilization.
Separately, Keelung yesterday eased earlier fears of an imminent water cutoff after white foamy pollutants were reported in a drainage channel in Nuannuan District (暖暖) on Tuesday.
Taiwan Water president Lee Tin-lai (李丁來) said the off-stream Sishih Reservoir (西勢水庫) supplying Nuannuan and parts of Renai District (仁愛) holds about 185,000 cubic meters of water.
With about 17,000m3 flowing in daily and assistance from other treatment plants, it is supplying roughly 16,000m3 per day — enough for about 10 days of stable service.
The updated figure improves on Taiwan Water’s earlier projection of just three days, which Lee described as an extreme worst-case scenario.
Taiwan Water has suspended intake from the Keelung River since Thursday last week and said it would resume only after sludge at the polluted site is cleared and water samples from upstream to the Badu pumping station show no safety concerns.
A mobile lab at the Xinshan Water Treatment Plant can screen for 236 chemical substances, allowing intake to restart within two days once approved by the Keelung City Government, the company said.
It said if contamination persists, it plans to bypass the affected section by laying 1.5km of temporary pipeline to upstream sources, a process expected to take about 10 days.
The broader contamination incident has affected more than 71,000 households across five districts, the city government said as it announced relief subsidies for bottled water purchases, medical expenses from symptoms linked to contaminated tap water, and water-tower cleaning to be completed before Dec. 31.
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