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CNA TAIPEI, Taiwan, 9 April 1999 -- A group of environmental protection activists on Friday asked the government to demand that Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) remove a shipment of mercury-laced industrial waste from the southern Taiwan port of Kaohsiung within two months. Representatives from the Green Front, the Taiwan Environmental Protection Alliance, and several other organizations made the demand to Fu Shu-chiang, director of the Solid Waste Control Bureau under the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration, who promised to accede to the demand. The activists further said that if FPG fails to comply, the government should order the group to suspend its operations, because the company's handling of the waste was in violation of government regulations and international standard practice, and has seriously hurt Taiwan's international image. As to reports that FPG might eventually store the waste at Mailiao township in central Yunlin County, the activists demanded that the firm make its handling process fully transparent and subject to public monitoring. They also asked the government to show its resolve by publicly blasting the group's illegal behavior and insisting that FPG assume full responsibility for the incident. The 3,000 tons of mercury-tainted waste arrived at Kaohsiung Harbor late on Wednesday from Cambodia, where it had originally been dumped at a landfill near the southern coastal town of Sihanoukville late last year. The subsequent discovery by local residents that the waste was toxic caused panic, and stirred up grave concern from the international community, forcing FPG to relocate the waste elsewhere. However, an FPG plan to transport the waste to a southern California village for disposal again provoked strong opposition among local residents, who forced the US Environmental Protection Agency to revoke apermit for the disposal which it had already granted. FPG is Taiwan's largest petrochemical company. FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The Basel Action Network is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability and environmental justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a `fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond `fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. More News |