Poor environmental regulations regarding the establishment of waste landfills have jeopardized the safety of water resources and some projects involving building new landfills have to be halted immediately, environmentalists said yesterday.
Dozens of environmentalists and residents affected by landfill projects yesterday protested in front of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) building, asking for a comprehensive review of related laws.
According to existing environmental regulations, proposals for building new landfills on slopes are exempted from an environmental impact assessment (EIA) as long as the area is smaller than two hectares. Chen Jiau-hua (
"These bad environmental laws have to be amended immediately," Chen said.
Taking landfill projects in Tzauchiau (造橋), Miaoli County, and in Dongshan (東山) Township, Tainan County, as examples, Chen said that possible negative impacts on water resources had been ignored when their proposals were reviewed.
In addition to poor environmental regulations, Chen said that the construction of landfill projects involving local gangsters were even worse. Chen Ching-chi (陳清奇), a farmer from Mialo, produced medical certificates, saying that his opposition to a local landfill project had led to a brutal beating.
Meanwhile, residents of Sindian, Taipei County, urged the EPA to block construction of a landfill for hazardous waste near their homes, saying that it would eventually cause pollution in both the Sindian River and the groundwater of the Taipei metropolitan area.
EPA officials said yesterday that local governments had to ensure effective communication with residents on issues regarding landfill projects.
"The launch of waste incinerators in the early 1990s has led to the closure of more than 300 landfills nationwide. Currently, 174 operational waste landfills will be closed within two years. As for proposals to build new ones, we will demand local governments to communicate with people in those areas more effectively," said Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文), director-general of the EPA's Bureau of Solid Waste Management.
Chen said that the EPA plans to have at least one landfill for waste that cannot be appropriately treated in incinerators.
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
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