The Executive Yuan takes the issue of water pollution very seriously, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said, urging government agencies to promptly punish violators and directing local and central environmental authorities to be more forceful in monitoring industries. In particular, frequent offenders and unscrupulous companies that refuse to change their ways should be handed severe fines and strictly monitored.
The premier made the remarks after being briefed by the Executive Yuan's national land protection task force on strategies for countering industrial wastewater pollution nationwide. The inter-ministerial task force was set up in 2013 to address land damage and environmental problems highlighted in the documentary Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above.
The technologies and methods for monitoring wastewater discharge must be effective, Jiang pointed out, otherwise they will not serve their purpose regardless of how much manpower has been deployed. Aside from employing newer methods and technologies, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) should incorporate violation reporting reward mechanisms into the Water Pollution Control Act to deter factories from illegally discharging wastewater.
Moreover, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) must step up assistance measures and improve treatment facilities, whether they are located in legal industrial zones, urban planning areas, or illegal and unregistered industrial clusters. A more comprehensive plan should be formulated and implemented step-by-step, Jiang said.
Premier Jiang said the service centers in MOEA industrial parks could be very helpful in verifying whether factories are releasing polluted wastewater. So far, however, only the industrial parks in Taoyuan and Changhua counties have authorized their service centers to do so. The premier called upon all other cities and counties to follow suit and help battle polluters.
Aside from industrial wastewater, hidden sources of pollution must be dealt with as well, Jiang said. He directed the EPA to work with the MOEA and the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) on finding effective ways of uncovering the sources and to come back with recommendations in three months.
Another problem exposed by the eco-documentary concerns effluent discharge from Guanyin Industrial Park and the resulting damage to Taoyuan County's coastal ecology. The EPA said it promptly teamed up with the county to implement an algal reef protection program, tightening inspections on the wastewater discharged from industrial parks in Guanyin and Dayuan townships.
The EPA has also stepped up supervision of other industrial parks, instructing environmental inspectors around the country to probe deeper into factories with severe or frequent violations. Unmanned aircraft are being used to survey pollution, along with satellite monitoring systems and river patrols. A draft amendment to the Water Pollution Control Act will increase the maximum fine for violations to NT$20 million (US$664,000).
Meanwhile, the MOEA increased the number of inspections per industrial park factory from 2.47 times to 3.56 times per month in 2013. Factories found to have abnormally high effluents were subject to additional usage fees, while repeat offenders were prohibited from releasing further discharge. The MOEA also devoted nearly NT$3.3 billion (US$109.7 million) to refurbishing sewer treatment plants—upgrading wastewater treatment functions at 26 aging plants, replacing 130 kilometers of pipelines, and installing water quality and quantity monitoring devices at 34 plants. Preliminary results of these efforts can be seen at the Guanyin Industrial Park, for instance, where the proportion of pipes failing inspections dropped from 13.2 percent in January to 7.3 percent in March, and the number of citations for unlawful effluence decreased from 1.83 per month to 0.67.
According to the MOEA, wastewater treatment facilities at the Guanyin, Dayuan, Douliu and Hsinchu industrial parks will be completely renovated by the end of 2014, a full year ahead of schedule. Also slated for year-end completion is expansion of the sewage processing facility at the Da-she Petrochemical Industrial Park, as well as a cooperative project with environmental authorities to link automatic monitoring systems at 24 sewage facilities in various industrial parks. Finishing these efforts before year's end will ensure that all sewage treatment plants under MOEA's jurisdiction by the end of 2015 will meet EPA effluent standards for 2016.
On a separate topic, the premier was briefed on the management of areas sensitive to landslides and geologic hazards. MOI officials said geologically sensitive areas in Nantou County's Cingjing District had been demarcated and announced on March 31. So far two illegal buildings in the area were torn down in February, and four more are scheduled to be demolished by the end of April.