Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) accused CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) of illegally laying pipelines to carry petrochemicals that were registered for carrying petroleum.
CPC made public earlier this week a document showing that of the 16 pipelines it helped to renew in 1990, only six belonged to it, while Taiwan Polypropylene Co Ltd (福聚) — which merged with LCY Chemical Corp (李長榮化工) in 2007 — owned one of the remaining 10 pipelines.
CPC displayed the document to refute LCY Chemical’s earlier accusation that CPC was responsible for safety inspections of the pipeline that has been found to have leaks and is suspected as the possible cause of the explosions last week in Greater Kaohsiung.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
CPC said that the owner of each pipeline, LCY Chemical in this case, has sole responsibility for maintaining their infrastructure.
However, Kuan said that CPC’s document exposed flaws in the firm’s use of the pipelines.
While the document is about the renewal of “long-range petroleum pipelines,” 11 of the 16 pipelines documented, including two used by CPC, have been used to transport petrochemicals, Kuan said.
She said CPC’s pipeline installations in the area are illegal, citing the Rules for Enforcement of the Urban Planning Act in Kaohsiung City (都市計劃法高雄市施行細則) from 1989, which says the petrochemical industry is restricted to special industrial zones and is not to have its pipelines carrying hazardous materials through residential or commercial zones as designated by the local government.
An aide of Kuan, surnamed Chen (陳), said it is “highly unlikely” that the municipality’s Cianjhen (前鎮) and Lingya (苓雅) districts, where the explosions occurred, were once part of the special industrial zones.
“CPC also helped Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) to build three pipelines [carrying petrochemical materials]. Why would CPC, FPG’s competitor, do such a thing? Clearly it was not up to the CPC, a state-run company, to make the decision. The Ministry of Economic Affairs should not evade the history of the municipality’s industrial structure or shun responsibility by claiming that it only has jurisdiction over petroleum and natural gas pipelines,” Kuan said.
Kuan also said that the ministry sponsored advertisements for the petrochemical industry in 2010, in which it asked where people could find waterproof umbrella cloth, toothpaste, toothbrushes or tires without the petrochemical industry.
“The ministry acted as the competent authority of the industry then, but now it tries to run as far as possible away from it,” Kuan said.
Meanwhile, the legitimacy of a drainage culvert that had three illegally installed pipelines is itself in doubt, with Water Resources Bureau Director Lee Hsien-yi (李賢義) saying the culvert cannot be found in the bureau’s records.
“We would never allow pipelines in the box culverts under our supervision,” Lee said, adding that the bureau is trying to find out which department built the culvert to determine whether its construction preceded the installation of the pipelines.
The Greater Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ office said yesterday that the culvert along which the explosions occurred is not on its charts and is considering whether to dig up the culvert for closer examination.
The office recently isolated the potential source of the explosion to a culvert at the intersection of Ersheng and Kaisyuan roads, confiscating a section of a heavily corroded pipeline used by LCY Chemical to store and deliver propene, the gas blamed for the explosions. Culverts should not have any pipelines attached to them, the office said.
A section of LCY Chemical’s pipeline that crossed an underground storm drain and had a hole apparently caused by corrosion was blamed for the leaking propene, according to the results of a preliminary investigation.
Meanwhile, Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) said that he did not understand why the pipeline, which had been treated to resist corrosion underground, but not in the air, had been placed over a storm drain, which exposed it to the air.
Additional reporting by Jack Chung and CNA
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
RSS