Photos: EPA gives Phase 3 CTSP the nod even if the courts say no.

Photo A

Photo B

Photo C

Photo D

Photos A-D: local residents from Houli, stakeholders, environmental and rights groups, farmers groups and concerned citizens peacefully protested outside the EPA building in Taipei in the pouring rain on Tuesday calling on the EPA to follow the rule of law and send the project for a second round of review. Note the dress of the police. No riot gear is visible. A sure indication that protests were peaceful and police were not expecting trouble.

Photo E: observers view the meeting on a monitor in a different room.



On Tuesday (2010-08-31) the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) gave conditional approval for the Phase 3 Zone [Houli] of the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) to go ahead. The decision to allow the highly controversial project to go ahead is in all likelihood illegal. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the project was ruled invalid by the Supreme Administrative Court on the 22 January this year. Then, on 2 August the Taipei High Administrative Court issued an injunction against further development on the site, on the grounds that the National Science Council had not completed a comprehensive health risk assessment.

During Tuesday's five-hour-long meeting local residents from Houli, stakeholders, environmental and rights groups, farmers groups and concerned citizens peacefully protested outside the EPA building in Taipei in the pouring rain calling on the EPA to follow the rule of law and send the project to a second round of review.

The EPA minister Stephen Shen allowed a few representatives from various groups against the project to briefly address the meeting. But for the most part, those against the development were shut out in the pouring rain while a few observers were allowed to watch proceedings on a monitor from a different room.

See EPA greenlights science park expansion plan in Taiwan Today.


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