Wu going soft on Formosa?

Sunday's fire at FPG affiliate, Nan Ya Plastics Corp's Chiayi Second Plant in Taibao City in Chiayi County.


One would be forgiven for confusing the Taiwan Premier with an executive of the petrochemical industry. Premier Wu Den-yih seems to place the needs of the nation at a far lower priority than that of the petrochemical industry. In today's Taipei Times we are told that yesterday Premier Wu "urged Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) to tighten its internal controls after Sunday’s fire at Nan Ya Plastics Corp’s Second Plant in Taibao City, Chiayi County." He went on to say "he hoped the company would take [Sunday’s] fire seriously."

Premier Wu Den-yih. These days he seems to behave more like a petrochemical executive than the nation's premier: photo Wikimedia commons.


What's all this use of "urged" and "hoped"? Is fire safety voluntary in Taiwan's petrochemical industry? Wu, you're the nation's premier! How about something along the lines of "three fires since July is unacceptable! It is nothing short of disgraceful and and can only be seen as the result of a culture of grossly negligent management combined with substandard safety policies that puts profits above all else." After three fires surely members of FPG's top management need to be charged criminally?

For more on what our dear Premier Wu had to say see Wu urges FPG to tighten controls in today's Taipei Times.
For more comment see the editorial: Creating a culture of safety.

Another photo of Sunday's fire at FPG affiliate, Nan Ya Plastics Corp's Chiayi Second Plant in Taibao City in Chiayi County.

Also see:
Yet another FPG related fire

Formosa Plastics on fire again

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

Photos of the Nan Ya Plastics Corp fire

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

Opposition pressures Government in wake of the second Formosa fire

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

Candidates - No fallout from Formosa fire in Sinbei elections

Academics against new Kuokuang plant

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

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Science park development at Houli gets the nod

Shen's latest EPA green gimmick

Yet another FPG related fire

Sunday's fire at FPG affiliate, Nan Ya Plastics Corp's Chiayi Second Plant in Taibao City in Chiayi County.


Another Formosa Plastics fire ! Yes, unbelievably there has been another one. On Sunday FPG affiliate, Nan Ya Plastics Corp, had a fire break out at their Chiayi Second Plant in Taibao City in Chiayi County. The blaze started at about 8:30am on Sunday and raged for 17 hours before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze. The plant produced a waterproof synthetic paper known as white pearl, or PEPA. No casualties have been reported.

Two fires at the group’s petrochemical complex in Mailiao Township in neighbouring Yunlin County in July caused national outrage and provoked demonstrations. It is clear that in the wake of the July fires that FPG has just carried on with their usual profit-at-all-cost manner of conducting business. Sunday's fire serves to highlight the groups ongoing horrendous environmental track record. FPG were the 2009 winners of the infamous Black Planet Award for their shocking disregard for the environment.

Yesterday, FPG chairman William Wong apologized for the fire. Under the circumstances such apologies can't be seen as anything but a sarcastic joke. The toxic fallout from such fires cause tremendous environmental damage. The Environmental Protection Administration said it had collected samples of black-colored rain water believed to have been the result of the fire. With the EPA's record of cosing up to the petrochemical industry one can't help but question if the EPA could be considered "neutral" enough to actually be entrusted with the analysis of such samples? Any reports issued by the EPA regarding this have to be seen as potentially suspect. A totally independent enquiry needs to be made into this and the other two recent Formosa fires. Clearly, whatever pressure the EPA and cabinet gave FPG after the two Mailiao fires in July it hasn't resulted in any meaningful changes in the safety standards at the group's plants.

See Formosa Plastics chief apologizes for fire in today's Taipei Times.


Also see:
Formosa Plastics on fire again

Photos of the Nan Ya Plastics Corp fire

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

Opposition pressures Government in wake of the second Formosa fire

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

Candidates - No fallout from Formosa fire in Sinbei elections

Academics against new Kuokuang plant

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

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Science park development at Houli gets the nod

Wu going soft on Formosa?

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

Shen's latest EPA green gimmick

Taiwan Without the Petrochemical Industry…

Take a look at this Global Voices post:

"What would have happened had the petrochemical industry ceased to exist in Taiwan? The Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) under Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs has tried hard to convince Taiwanese citizens that if Taiwan does not build more petrochemical industrial plants, its economy will collapse and people will suffer. On the other hand, environmentalists, activists, and bloggers are looking forward to seeing the end of such a polluting industry destroying the island's lands, water, and air."

Click to continue reading the post.

Taiwan Pink Dolphin Videos & Film Clips

Videos & Film Clips:

Taiwan Pink Dolphin Video

Video Footage of Taiwan's Pink Dolphins - Right In Front Of Formosa Plastics!

Taiwan Pink Dolphin Film Clips

Science Park Phase 3 development appeal rejected

Yesterday the Supreme Administrative Court rejected the government's appeal against the July 30th ruling to suspend work on the Central Taiwan Science Park's (CTSP) Phase 3 development project.

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the project was ruled invalid by the Supreme Administrative Court on the 22 January this year. The Environmental Protection Administration, CTSP and developers ignored the ruling. Then, on July 30th the Taipei High Administrative Court again ruled against further development on the site, on the grounds that the National Science Council had not completed a comprehensive health risk assessment. The government's response to this was to question the ability of the judges and undermine the authority of the judiciary. Then, institute an appeal. But even before the court's had ruled on the appeal, EPA's Environmental Impact Assessment committee instead of sending the Phase-3 development project to a second round of review, chose to ignore the courts and gave conditional approval on Tuesday (2010-08-31) for the Phase 3 development of the CTSP at Cising and Houli to go ahead.

The ruling stopping work at the CTSP Phase 4 development (Kuokuang Petrochemical) in Erlin, Changhua County was revoked. The suspension of Phase 4 will now be up to the Taipei High Administrative Court.

See Science park's appeal rejected, Learning the lessons of Mailiao for Dacheng and Quantifying the non-quantifiable in today's Taipei Times.

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

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Erosion of democracy and freedom Beijing style

Local residents block access to FPG plant

Local residents continue to block access to FPG plant

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

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.


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

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Erosion of democracy and freedom Beijing style

Local residents block access to FPG plant

Local residents continue to block access to FPG plant

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

Science park development at Houli gets the nod

Despite a Supreme Administrative Court ruling to void the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the expansion of the Phase 3 Zone [Houli] of the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP), the Environmental Protection Administration's (EPA) environmental impact assessment (EIA) committee yesterday gave conditional approval for the project to go ahead.

It is no surprise that the EPA once more ignored due process and did exactly what Premier Wu Den-yih wanted them to do. Legally, the EPA's EIA committee were required to to send the Phase-3 development project to a second round of review. But with EPA Minister Stephen Shen at the helm of yesterday's proceedings, the EIA committee wasn't going to do anything other than agree with their boss; even if that decision was of extremely dubious legality.

So yesterday marked another very sad day in the rule of law under the Ma regime. Ma and his cabinet seem to care little for legal niceties, displaced farmers and rural communities, fishers, pink dolphins, and reducing the nation's CO2 emissions. It's all about growth you see. About ensuring their cronies in the petrochemical industry get exactly what they want so they can grow richer at the expense of the nation, its health and sustainably managing its natural resources. Surely there are less toxic ways to create jobs?

But wait, you say. The approval was conditional. The EPA didn't give the developers the green light to do exactly what they want. There were requirements regulating water usage, ambient water quality and emission of volatile organic compounds. Sadly, the EPA doesn't have a very good track record there. Perhaps a little tap on the wrist and a little fine like they have done with Formosa Plastics with its fires and excessive water usage.

For more see Science park development gets conditional approval in today's Taipei Times.


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

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Erosion of democracy and freedom Beijing style

Local residents block access to FPG plant

Local residents continue to block access to FPG plant

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?

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

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA