The use of slag in building materials is to be suspended for three months after untreated slag was found in adulterated concrete at the Taipei New Horizon complex, with the management of the substance taking center stage at a Legislative Yuan Education and Culture Committee meeting yesterday.
The structural integrity of slag-laced concrete, pollution caused by illicit dumping of slag and problems of recognizing the material as a product were major discussion topics at a question-and-answer session at the meeting.
The management of slag has become an issue of public concern since swellings and peelings were found on the complex’s exterior walls, which are made using concrete mixed with slag, while the supplier of the concrete, Asia Cement Corp, said its Ya-tung Ready-Mixed Concrete factory was given adulterated materials by its raw-materials supplier.
NATIONWIDE ISSUE?
The debate has raised concerns over the possibility of materials used in buildings nationwide containing slag.
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and Industrial Development Bureau, the two major authorities of slag and industrial waste management, have a total of less than 10 employees and a limited budget to monitor the reprocessing and reusing of slag, with EPA Minister Wei Kuo-yen (魏國彥) to describe the two authorities as “toothless and weaponless.”
Industrial Development Bureau Director-General Wu Ming-ji (吳明機) said that while it is legal to make blended cement with slag, the bureau decided to suspend the practice for three months due to concerns over the safety of slag cement.
During the three-month suspension period, the bureau is to try to establish a traceability system of furnace slag and streamline the flow of the material, as well as standardizing the stabilization procedure of slag, Wu said.
The Construction and Planning Agency said it suggested banning the use of slag in all building materials.
“The suspension must extend to all types of electric arc furnace slag, be it oxidizing slag or reducing slag, because there is hardly any management at all, and improper treatment and illegal use of slag has become rampant due to poor management,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) said.
THREE-LEVEL SYSTEM
DPP Legislator Wu Kun-yuh (吳焜裕) asked government units to establish a three-level waste management system consisting of factory-level, local government-level and central government-level officials to improve the existing system.
DPP Legislator Chen Man-li (陳曼麗) raised concerns over regulations that allow treated slag to be recognized as a product instead of waste, thereby opening a loophole for reprocessors to deal with slag not in accordance with the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法), leading to repeated illegal dumping.
Chen called on the government to classify slag solely as industrial waste so it can be treated under stricter regulations and a single authority.
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
The US-Japan joint statement released on Friday not mentioning the “one China” policy might be a sign that US President Donald Trump intends to decouple US-China relations from Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said. Following Trump’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, the US and Japan issued a joint statement where they reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Trump has not personally brought up the “one China” policy in more than a year, National Taiwan University Department of Political Science Associate Professor Chen Shih-min (陳世民)
‘NEVER!’ Taiwan FactCheck Center said it had only received donations from the Open Society Foundations, which supports nonprofits that promote democratic values Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) has never received any donation from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a cofounder of the organization wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday. The Taipei-based organization was established in 2018 by Taiwan Media Watch Foundation and the Association of Quality Journalism to monitor and verify news and information accuracy. It was officially registered as a foundation in 2021. National Chung Cheng University communications professor Lo Shih-hung (羅世宏), a cofounder and chairman of TFC, was responding to online rumors that the TFC receives funding from the US government’s humanitarian assistance agency via the Open Society Foundations (OSF),
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
RSS