Members of the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee yesterday urged the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to step up its efforts to curb water pollution and PM2.5 air pollution caused by petrochemical complexes.
PM2.5 is an indicator of fine particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, a “Group 1” carcinogen listed by the WHO and a major air pollutant.
From October last year to last month, the central regions of Taichung and Changhua and Nantou counties had just 10 days when the PM2.5 index did not exceed level 6 — “intermediate” according to the administration’s Web site, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) said during a committee meeting to discuss risks to the environment and public health caused by petrochemical complexes.
Highlighting the severity of the pollution, Liu said that the PM2.5 level in Yunlin County’s Douliou Township (斗六) in January last year was 54 micrograms per cubic meter of air (mg/m3) and the annual average reached 34.4mg/m3, compared with the annual PM2.5 standard of 15mg/m3 recommended by the administration.
He asked EPA Minister Wei Kuo-yen (魏國彥) what efforts are under way by the administration to counter PM2.5.
Wei said that a cap was set last year on the overall air pollution in the Kaohsiung-Pingtung air quality zone, which limits the maximum permissible amount of factories in the region.
In addition, an intergovernmental platform uniting central and local agencies, in particular central Taiwan and Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan, has been established for all related agencies to update and streamline mitigation efforts, he said.
The administration would set up 10 survey stations at the sixth naphtha cracker, 10 in the Kaohsiung Linhai Industrial Park, eight in the Kaohsiung Linyuan Industrial Park and four in the Southern Taiwan Science Park this year to record the levels of PM2.5 and volatile organic compounds.
The administration is also improving monitoring efforts on PM2.5 caused by fugitive dust on riverbeds, fumes emitted by vehicles and activities such as burning ghost money and agricultural waste, he said.
DPP Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said an investigation by the Yunlin County Government found more than 100 pollutants in the outflow from the sixth naphtha cracker, but just 24 were controlled by the administration.
She asked the administration to redouble monitoring efforts or the pollutants discharged into the water body will likely enter the food supply chain through freshwater fish, endangering public health.
Wei said that the administration needs some time to research possible pathways whereby the outstanding pollutants enter the food supply chain, and that it would ask local environmental protection agencies to monitor these pollutants.
He said that the administration would look into ways to include the unattended substances to its list of controlled pollutants from the petrochemical industry.
Police have issued warnings against traveling to Cambodia or Thailand when others have paid for the travel fare in light of increasing cases of teenagers, middle-aged and elderly people being tricked into traveling to these countries and then being held for ransom. Recounting their ordeal, one victim on Monday said she was asked by a friend to visit Thailand and help set up a bank account there, for which they would be paid NT$70,000 to NT$100,000 (US$2,136 to US$3,051). The victim said she had not found it strange that her friend was not coming along on the trip, adding that when she
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in
RSS