EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Last Thursday, the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said it would abide by the High Administrative Court's order to halt all expansion activities on the Phase 3 Zone Development of the Central Taiwan Science Park but on Monday, they along with the National Science Council, filed several appeals against the Taipei High Administrative Court's ruling on the third and fourth phase expansion of the Central Taiwan Science Park.

To be fair, the EPA and NSC are within reason entitled to a bit of leeway in their interpretation of what 'abide' means but it would appear that their interpretation seems to go way beyond the usual understanding of what the word is said to mean in your handy pocket dictionary.

It therefore came as no surprise that this past week the EPA and NSC have done everything in their power to get around, over and under the Taipei High Administrative Court's ruling while Premier Wu Den-yih strongly voiced his encouragement for the EPA and NSC to ignore the courts.

Exactly what the situation on the ground is at present seems a little sketchy. It appears that the NSC has halted or at least has said it will halt work on infrastructure at the Erlin and Houli sites but they would allow companies that had already begun production or were building to continue. It would seem that the 'powers that be' are once again employing their usual tactic of forging ahead regardless so that by the time the legality of the matter is ruled upon the outcome of the project is a fait accompli.


For comment in the press see:

Wu supports science park on allowing operations

Council suspends expansion work on science park

Ma's misplaced stream of tears

EPA, science park, NSC appeal ruling on park expansion


Also see:
Academics against new Kuokuang plant

Government quick to defend Formosa Plastics in the wake of a second fire

Formosa Plastics on fire again

Taiwan High Administrative Court orders Central Taiwan Science Park to halt all expansion pending a ruling on two lawsuits

The saga of the CTSP Erlin Science Park and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project

Wu the Kuokuang Petrochemical executive continues to forget he's the Nation's Premier

Is the State turning the police into thugs?

Local residents block access to FPG plant

Local residents continue to block access to FPG plant

Government defies the courts with the President's blessing

Plans to buy another 800 hectares of wetlands to save pink dolphin habitat and to protect threatened birds and marine life

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Science park development at Houli gets the nod

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

Shen's latest EPA green gimmick