Torrential rains that began early yesterday have delayed a plan by the Greater Kaohsiung Government to remove any remaining flammable gas inside a damaged pipeline that is believed to have caused explosions in the city on July 31 and Aug. 1.
According to the Central Weather Bureau, 246mm of rain fell in Kaohsiung’s Ciaotou District (橋頭) between 12am and 12pm yesterday, with more than 220mm falling in both Renwu (仁武) and Dashe (大社) districts.
The heavy rain flooded the streets caved in by the explosions, including the intersection of Kaisyuan and Ersheng roads in Cianjhen District (前鎮), where the pipeline, which is believed to be owned by LCY Chemical Corp (李長榮化學), was found to have been leaking at a section that crossed a drainage culvert prior to the blasts.
Photo: CNA
Prosecutors instructed engineers on Saturday to use a steel pipe to replace a cut-off segment of the pipeline that showed damage in an effort to speed up the removal from the line of flammable gas residues, including propene — which is believed to have caused the blasts.
Last week, prosecutors ordered that the segment of the pipeline be removed for testing to see if the damage had been caused by erosion or by the explosions, which killed 30 people and injured 310.
A plastic pipe was later used to reconnect the gas line, but was unable to withstand pumping pressure. The plastic pipe was originally set to be replaced today with a steel segment, but the work was delayed by flooding.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
The Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Agency said the replacement work could not begin until the water level drops by at least 1m.
After the remaining propene, also known as propylene, in the pipe is cleared, investigators are to excavate the culvert to examine whether the pipeline suspected to be the source of the gas that led to the blasts was laid before or after the culvert’s construction, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Underground pipelines should be packed within soil or other material and should not be exposed to air — as they were at the blast site at the point where they crossed the culvert — which can overly expose pipelines to air and moisture, leading to corrosion.
If the culvert in question is found to have been built after the pipeline’s installation, the city government might be held responsible for improper construction.
Meanwhile, Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said that Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) has ordered preparations for a meeting with Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) to discuss enhancing safety in the petrochemical industry, adding that a date has not yet been decided for the two to meet.
Chen, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, said on Saturday that she would like to meet with Jiang this week to talk about the hierarchy of responsibility between the central government and local authorities for regulating undergrounds pipelines owned by petrochemical companies in Kaohsiung.
However, Chen said yesterday that the situation at the disaster zone has been exacerbated by the rain in Kaohsiung and that she will wait until the situation improves before traveling to Taipei for a meeting with Jiang.
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