Taiwan

Taiwan's enviromental protection Administration ~EPA) faces one of the most serious cases of ecological depredation in Asia as it attempts to clean up the results of several decades of rapid industrialisation.

Since it was established in 1987, the EPA has proposed 15 major new laws concerning air, water and land pollution. But the Taiwan Government, in its pursuit of rapid growth, has not demonstrated a serious commitment to environmental protection. Equally, industry — in the absence of effective regulation — has no incentive to introduce environmentally sound practices.

As a result of this low level of official or public concern over environmental issues, the EPA lacks the manpower and resources to carry out existing poliaes — particularly against the large number of unlicensed and unregulated industries.

Given this attitude, it is not surprising that air pollution is a major health hazard on Taiwan’s heavily populated and industrialised west coast. Emissions from the island’s 94,000 or so factories combine to see an average of 60 days a year registering an unhealthy air pollution count. While emission controls for vehicles and other sources of five key pollutants — airborne particles,

carbon monoxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide —are slowly being tightened, legislation stifi falls far short of US standards.

Factories are currently allowed to emit 750 parts per million (ppm) of sulphur dioxide. Between 1993-96 this level wifi be lowered to 500 ppm and 250 ppm, respectively. This compares, for example, with Los Angeles — which allows only 150 ppm of sulphur dioxide.

However, even achieving this relatively small decline in airborne pollutants is likely to prove difficult. Small enterprises cannot afford adequate anti-pollution equipment, and illegal companies simply do not bother. Even companies with scrubbers, filters or more sophisticated pollution control equipment tend to turn off the machines at night to save money. The Bureau of Air Quality Control estimates that 9,000 factories are in violation of emission standards. While fines for violations are steep, the bureau has so far only been able to inspect 1,000 factories.

Water pollution regulations are also widely ignored. Many companies, for example, reroute effluent pipes up to 3 km away from their factories in order to escape detection. In addition, one of the major problems in southern Taiwan are pig farms that ignore regulations and dump raw animal waste directly into the rivers. As a result, half Taiwan’s 20 million population are drinking water from heavily polluted sources, according to a survey commissioned by the EPA. Beginning next year, the EPA will start a programme to improve groundwater quality.

Sewage, the more visible form of water pollution, is receiving more attention. Currently, only 3.4% of household sewage in Taiwan is treated — a figure the EPA plans to raise to 14% by 1996. According to the EPA, this will be accomplished through the Clean River Project, which aims to meet minimum water quality standards in some 44 polluted rivers by 1998.

A planned clean-up of the Tan Shui River, the most polluted river in northern Taiwan, is the test case for better sewage treatment. The key link in the plan is the Pali Wastewater Treatment Plant, which will handle primary treatment and ocean outfall for Taipei. Construction of the plant was delayed in the 1980s because rapidly escalating land prices and inadequate funds left the government without the money to acquire land from villagers. Work on the plant finally began in July and will be finished in 1993.

Besides better water treatment, Taiwan also needs improved solid waste control. All of Taiwan’s annual 30 million tons of solid waste is buried, often carelessly. The old Nethu landfill site — a 60-rn-high mountain of garbage outside Taipei — stands as a monument to Taiwan’s preferred method of solid waste disposal.

Lacking alternatives for waste disposal sites, local municipalities are now opting for burning instead of burying, despite the added cost. The current Six-Year Plan contains provisions for 21 incinerators across the island by 1996, including a pilot incinerator for industrial waste.

Taipei currently boasts the only working incinerator facility in Taiwan. But this facility, which began operating in May, has chocked on unsorted rubbish. Certain items, such as vehicle tyres and large pieces of steel, must be removed before the trash is burned. When it resumes operations, it will be able to handle 900 tons of garbage a day. Meanwhile, solid wastes continue to pile up at Taipei’s Fu Te Kang landfill, which is nearing capacity. •

-By Bill Savadove in Taipei

Source :Far Eastern Economic Review, 19 Sept, 1991

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