Prosecutors have indicted 11 people, including a landowner, over allegations of collusion for profit in the illegal dumping of waste materials at a site that was an irrigation pond in an agricultural zone in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢).
A Taoyuan man surnamed Huang (黃) and the landowner, surnamed Liu (劉), were identified as key figures behind the landfill, which covered about 20,000m3, the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement on Monday.
The 11 suspects were charged with contraventions of the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法) and the Urban Planning Act (都市計畫法), including failing to restore the land to its original state, it said.
Photo: Chou Min-hung, Taipei Times
The case was initially investigated by officers from the Taoyuan Department of Environmental Protection, with prosecutors and units from the Jhongli Police Precinct following up, it said.
Authorities conducted on-site inspections in November and December last year as part of the probe, it said.
Excavators were dispatched to dig up the material, revealing bricks, tiles, rebar, wire, wood, clothing, ropes and metal pipes, the indictment said.
Prosecutors said that Huang, Liu and the other suspects made about NT$18.17 million (US$568,310) in illegal profits by accepting payments from licensed firms to clear, treat and dispose of industrial and construction waste that should have been handled at approved landfill sites.
The case is one of the largest in the past few years involving illegal backfilling of irrigation ponds.
Prosecutors said that the landowner allegedly conspired with Huang’s group to dump waste at a site that was neither certified nor approved.
Investigators found that over a six-month period last year, more than 3,400 truckloads of construction waste and materials from a gravel excavation business were used to fill the ponds.
Authorities said the operation was part of a coordinated scheme between Liu and Huang to generate illegal profits.
Prosecutors said the dumping polluted water sources and severely damaged farmland, destroying two ponds and their ecosystems.
The scheme began when Liu, facing financial difficulties, was unable to lease the ponds, prosecutors said.
Liu agreed to dump waste at the site, while Huang secured contracts to dispose of surplus construction materials and other waste, prosecutors said.
The site was covered with sediment from a gravel excavation business to conceal the dumping, they added.
Prosecutors asked the courts to impose heavy sentences, citing the scale of environmental destruction.
They are also seeking confiscation of three excavators and NT$18.17 million in illicit gains, describing the case as a serious environmental crime.
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