The Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office this week indicted 17 people for the alleged unlawful handling of hazardous industrial waste in southern Taiwan, some of which contained cadmium levels 27 times higher than the legal limit.
A man surnamed Liu (劉), the co-owner of Yishuo Environmental Protection, was among the 17 charged on Monday with breaches of the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法).
Liu’s company did not have a license, nor did it have government approval to handle, treat or dispose of hazardous waste, Southern Center of Environmental Management Director Shih Ping-hsin (石秉鑫) said.
Photo: Tsai Ching-hua, Taipei Times
To get around restrictions, Liu allegedly used licenses from qualified firms, working out a business arrangement in which Yishuo was contracted for reusing and recycling solid waste, with employees picking up waste and transporting it to rented storage sites in southern Taiwan over the past five years, Shih said.
At one site in Kaohsiung’s Renwu District (仁武), Ministry of Environment officers found plastics, chemical mixtures, used metal containers, sludge and other contaminated industrial waste, Southern Center of Environmental Management section head Liang Hsiao-wen (梁?文) said.
Tested samples showed cadmium levels at more than 27 times the permissible level, constituting hazardous waste requiring proper treatment and disposal, Liang said.
Liu’s company is believed to have made NT$38.683 million (US$1.17 million) in illegal profits from improperly disposing waste, Shih said, adding that the inspected sites contained heavy metals and other contaminants.
Such a serious case of improper disposal of hazardous waste posing serious contamination issues could result in a jail sentence of up to five years, and possibly fines of up to NT$15 million, Shih said.
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