CPC Corp, Taiwan’s (CPC) plan to build a third liquefied natural gas terminal in Taoyuan was yesterday rejected by an environmental impact assessment committee, which asked it to submit more documentation by April.
The proposed terminal project at Guantang Industrial Park in the city’s Guanyin District (觀音) was turned down by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) committee after a review meeting.
At a news conference before the meeting, environmental groups urged the committee to base its review on professionalism, not politics.
Photo: CNA
The project would jeopardize Polycyathus chaishanensis, an endangered species of coral, and algal reefs in the intertidal zones off Datan Borough (大潭), the groups said, calling on the company to build the terminal elsewhere.
The Council of Agriculture in a legislative session on Monday promised that it would spend about NT$10.73 million (US$364,941) to conduct a one-year study with Academia Sinica about local ecosystems starting in March, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) said, urging the committee to postpone its review until the council’s report is released.
The groups stalled the meeting for more than two hours by challenging the legitimacy of its procedures and the council’s inaction in legally protecting the species.
Committee member Liu Ching-yu (劉靜榆), associate researcher at the council’s Endemic Species Research Institute, said the utility’s report contains many errors, such as the kind of species on Datan’s coast, and called on the committee to reject the project.
The project is urgent because it is expected to supply between 8 percent and 10 percent of the nation’s natural gas from July 2022, Bureau of Energy Deputy Director-General Lee Chun-li (李君禮) said.
If the terminal is to be built at another venue such as the ports of Taipei, Linkou or Taichung, it could only start supplying gas to the Datan Power Plant by 2027 or 2028, which would impede the government’s goal to generate half of the nation’s electricity from natural gas by 2025, the company said.
To reduce the project’s effect on the local ecology, the CPC said it has curtailed its development areas from 232 hectares to 37 hectares and canceled the construction plans for less relevant facilities, such as petrochemical products.
Schedule delay is the main reason the company did not opt for the other venues, CPC vice president J.Z. Fang (方振仁) said.
The company would avoid affecting or dislocating the protected coral in the intertidal zones, Fang said, adding that it would monitor the construction process around the clock through a closed-circuit television system.
The committee asked the developer to submit more documentation on ecology and another impact assessment by April 30, and advised the EPA to convene an expert meeting to discuss the project’s potential effect on local ecosystems.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS