The medium-and high-pollution illegal factories poisoned the land of fish and rice, but the Ministry of Economic Affairs did not disclose the list, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs criticized the Labor Assistance Law as a false appearance.

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The source of the food safety crisis lurking in the land of fish and rice is the medium-and high-pollution factories on agricultural land! The Earth Citizens Foundation, Changhua Environmental Protection Alliance, Green Citizen Action Alliance and other ring groups held a press conference today to complain that among the violations of agricultural land in Taiwan, at least 1467 factories had doubts about moderate and high pollution, leaving surrounding farmland exposed to heavy metals and chemicals, and the production of rice and vegetables may contain toxic substances illegally excreted and eaten by the public.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs has spent more than $70 million to check the location and attributes of new illegal factories, but it has been slow to disclose the list and location of these factories. Huantuan bitterly criticized that on the grounds that the harm of pollution could not be confirmed, the government allowed medium and high pollution illegal factories to continue to exist in the countryside, becoming an unexploded bomb of the food safety and environmental crisis.

Factories disorderly discharge heavy metals in violation of regulations, green oysters reappear

Wu Huijun, executive secretary of the Changhua Environmental Protection Alliance, specially brought wild stone ponds from the mouth of Yangzichuo in Lugang, where illegal factory sewage from agricultural land discharged streams, resulting in long-term heavy metal pollution, showing a frightening color of green and khaki. Wu stressed, "while everyone is worried about the food safety crisis of clenbuterol, fish products and vegetables in agricultural counties are facing more urgent pollution hazards."

The meat of oysters polluted by heavy metals in Changhua is abnormally yellowish. (photography / Lin Jiyang)

Wu Huijun said that Changhua County is the county and city with the worst fall of agricultural land factories. Changhua notice listed 924 cases of agricultural land pollution, nearly 149 hectares, equivalent to 5.7 Daan Forest Park. The heavy metals exceeding the standard are copper, zinc, nickel, mercury, cadmium, chromium, arsenic and lead. These pollution sources cannot be completely eliminated, and apart from the permanent loss of productivity of agricultural land, as Rain Water continues to discharge pollutants to agricultural land and coastal areas, the affected agricultural and fishing products continue to be exported to the market, and the harm still cannot be repaired.

Huantuan criticizes that the information of the Ministry of Economic Affairs is not made public, and the "Labor Assistance Law" is virtually empty.

According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, 314 illegal factories with medium and high pollution are legal and registered as temporary factories on the spot, and there are 1153 unregistered factories with medium and high pollution, but the Ministry of Economic Affairs refused to disclose the list and location.

Cai Zhongyue, deputy chief executive officer of the Earth Citizen Foundation, pointed out that on September 2, the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced the "Factory Management guidance Law" sub-law "non-low-pollution existing unregistered factory transformation or factory closure and guidance period treatment principles" (hereinafter referred to as: medium-to-high pollution relocation principle) norms, high-pollution farmland illegal factories must be transformed, closed or relocated within six years, however, in the current situation of illegal factories continue to soar There is no deterrent at all.

Tsai Chung-Yueh said that the "medium and high pollution relocation principle" basically shows that there is no clear plan to relocate the factory, but only allows manufacturers to continue to procrastinate, and farmland becomes a criminal paradise in violation of regulations. Cai pointed out that if the Ministry of Economic Affairs spends NT $70 million to check and control 1467 medium and high pollution factories, they should announce their hazardous attributes and locations, so as to form the pressure of relocation and curb the wait-and-see mentality of manufacturers.

Cai Zhongyue called for the relocation of medium-and high-pollution agricultural land factories to set up a special agency. I am afraid that a single function of the Central Office of the Ministry of Economic Affairs is not enough. (photography / Lin Jiyang) the government has not provided supporting facilities for transformation, and operators are facing factory closures, so they might as well risk continuing to break the law.

Guo Hongyi, a lawyer with the quite ambitious Ecological Association, also said that the "medium and high pollution relocation principle" only has no specific objectives, and the government has not come forward to lead the settlement relocation of the industrial chain, nor has it provided land and low-interest loan pipelines. so that these medium-and high-pollution industries, which mostly belong to small and medium-sized enterprises, do not dare to transform or relocate factories, and have no choice but to close down in the end.

Guo also pointed out that the "medium and high pollution relocation principle" requires operators to put forward plans for transformation, relocation or closure of factories by March 19, 2021, but the relevant counseling programs of counties and municipal governments are still at a standstill. The difficulties faced by operators during the transition period, such as the disappearance of industrial settlements and the need for capital dispatching, the government has not put forward any supporting measures to assist the position. Even if the new law is passed, medium-and high-pollution factories will continue to be dilapidated.

The government continues to cover for agricultural sewage factories, causing illegal factories to continuously endanger food safety.

Zeng Hongwen, deputy secretary general of the Green Citizen Action Alliance, said that the Green League integrated limited information on environmental violations, agricultural land maps, factory licenses and tax records, and found 266 factories that had violated environmental laws and regulations, including medium and high pollution industries such as the electroplating industry. Take the "Yongfu Enterprise Society", which was seized by the environmental protection inspection brigade last year, stealing electroplating water as an example. The heavy metal zinc exceeded the standard by 4 times, and its PH value of 3.0 reached the super-acid grade, causing serious damage to the surrounding farmland, and the production of fruits and vegetables and rice went nowhere after it was sold to the market.

It was once believed that the government had spent 70 million of taxpayers' money on inspecting illegal factories, and if the results of the inspections were not made public, it would be tantamount to "covering up the bad deeds" for illegal factories. If agricultural land continues to be allowed to violate the rules and regulations, resulting in a window of persistent pollution, she asked the government to immediately make public the results of the inspection of agricultural land factories and allow the public to participate in supervision.