Additional Pollution Incidents in Southern Taiwan

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003586

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON AND AID

DEPT FOR EAP/RSP/TC AND OES/PCI

USDOC FOR 6200/ITA/TD/ENVIROTECH EXPORTS

FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE

EPA FOR OIA - DAN THOMPSON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV ECON TW ESTH
SUBJECT: Additional Pollution Incidents in Southern Taiwan

Ref: a) Taipei 2997; b) Taipei 3491


1. Summary. In a series of investigations into industrial
pollution in Southern Taiwan, Taiwan's Environmental
Protection Administration (TEPA) completed research on 175
unoccupied industrial factories and found five major
incidents of soil and groundwater pollution that resulted
from the production processes at currently closed factories
in southern Taiwan. The five plants in Kaohsiung, which
produced petrochemicals, have all been closed for some time.
Kaohsiung County Environmental officials report that, while
one site has already been converted to residential use, the
situation at the remaining sites is improving and clean up
will be accomplished before the land is put to new use. End
Summary

Background
--------------


2. Based on TEPA's report, the five polluted sites are as
follows:

- China Petrochemical Development Corporation (CPDC) in
Chienchen, Kaohsiung City. This plant covered approximately
45 acres of land. It manufactured several petrochemical
items including hydrochloric acid and bleaching agents. The
plant ceased production in 1988. The equipment was sold and
shipped to Indonesia. CPDC has recently been fined for
being involved in the previously reported pollution
incidents in Tainan and Kaohsiung. See reftels for details.

- Taiwan VCM Corporation's Kaohsiung plant,
a 7.5-acre site, was leased to Taiwan VCM by CPDC. It
produced vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). The plant
ceased production in 1992 when the site was also to
CPDC.

- Kaohsiung Sulfuric Acid Corporation's Kaohsiung plant
(KSAC). Government-run KSAC was one of the major fertilizer
producers in Taiwan. It occupied 22 acres of land.
Production ceased in 2004 and the land was rezoned for
commercial use.

- Feng An Metal Industrial Corporation in Hsiaokang,
Kaohsiung City, operated a zinc and zinc alloy ingot
facility on a ten acre site in the Ta Fa Industrial Park.
The plant ceased operation in 1999. Responsibility for the
clean up of this site is being debated. The company
defaulted on $310 million in debt and was foreclosed on.
The owner, Chu An-hsiung, former Speaker of Kaohsiung City
Council, is presently a fugitive from justice on a warrant
stemming from an election fixing scandal in the Kaohsiung
City Council. He is believed to be in hiding on the
mainland.

- Ho Cheng Metal Industrial Corporation in Tashe,
Kaohsing County, which began producing iron, copper, and
stainless steel strips in 1984. Production was halted in

2000. The facilities and land were auctioned to private
investors who built residential apartments on the land.



3. Recently, two major newspapers published headline
articles concerning TEPA's findings. Based on press reports,
there was extremely high mercury content (11,600ppm parts
per million) in the soil in the CPDC Chienchen plant, 580
times more than TEPA's established standard for soil
pollution levels (TEPA's maximum limit is 20ppm). Findings
also indicated that groundwater at CPDC's plant and the
adjacent Taiwan VCM plant was seriously contaminated. Total
Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) levels in the soil of KSAC's
site tested at 4,790 ppm, much higher than TEPA's standard
of 1,000 ppm.


4. Officials of Kaohsiung's EPA (KEPA) expressed
disappointment in the media reports. Division Chief Wang
said the situation is not as awful as the reports indicated.
According to Wang, KEPA alerted CPDC, Taiwan VCM, and KSAC
about the pollution problems in June 2004, and requested the
companies to develop plans for clean up. KEPA initially
demanded that the clean up be completed by June 2005.
However, at the request of the plant owners, the deadline
was extended to January 15, 2006. According to Wang, CPDC
is in the process of removing the contaminated soil from its
plant and the adjacent Taiwan VDM. The polluted soil has
been packed in plastics bags and stored in warehouses. KEPA
officials have been monitoring the removal process. A final
disposal plan for the removed soil has yet to be developed.


5. KEPA conducted a second inspection of the three above-
mentioned plants in July this year. Results showed
improvement of the situation. According to Wang, mercury
content in the soil of CPDC plant and the adjacent Taiwan
VCM site declined to 560ppm. Results also showed that TPH
levels in the soil of KSAC decreased to 2,470ppm. While
saying that pollution in groundwater had also decreased,
Wang did not have specific figures for the groundwater.


6. KEPA officials have been trying to convince Kaohsiung
residents that tap water is safe to drink because none of
the contaminated groundwater was supplied for household use.
Meanwhile, in response to the media's reports of plans on
developing the proposed Kaohsiung Economic and Trade Park on
polluted sites, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai stated that the
city's EPA would maintain close supervision on the
operators' improvement efforts, and that no rezoning plans
on the sites would be approved until the soil is
decontaminated. Mayor Chen endorses the development of the
park and announced that the project would move forward as
scheduled.


7. Comment: Like the CPDC sites mentioned in reftels, one
of the current sites had been sold to the public sector.
Plans were in place to privately develop the other sites as
well. This has delayed clean up, as the new owners do not
wish to be responsible for problems caused by the previous
owners which were not disclosed to the new owners.
Environmental NGOs are closely checking the sites of other
factories that formerly belonged to government-run or
government-subsidized companies. It is likely that more
polluted sites will be discovered. AIT/K will continue to
monitor the situation and report further developments as
they become known. End Comment.




Thiele

Paal