Millions of tons of Qishan farmland ballast, excavation of explosive waste as high as 4 million tons! The Environmental Protection Bureau has no supervision mechanism during the cleaning process.

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A 5.2-hectare agricultural land in the forest in Qishan District of Kaohsiung City has been illegally dumped millions of tons of furnace ballast (converter stone) since May 2013. Seven years later, the Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau finally held a presentation in March this year (2020). The 10,000 largest material technology companies in the original landfill industry promised to complete the removal of one million tons of converter stone within three years.

However, no one would have expected that this piece of farmland would not be dug, and the more it was dug, the more terrifying it would be. In a briefing to the Kaohsiung City Council Security and Environmental Protection Committee today, Wanda Company said that the originally planned clearance capacity was 1 million tons, but after actual excavation and investigation, it was found that the total amount was as high as 4 million tons, in addition to converter stone. There are also a large number of construction wastes and unidentified wastes.

The concerned people went deep into the pollution site for the first time, only to clear more than 1,000 tons in three months.

Today, the Kaohsiung City Council Security and Environmental Protection Committee inspected Qishan, especially the farmland where nearly one million tons of furnace ballast was illegally buried in the forest. The scene included city councillors, assistants, personnel of the Environmental Protection Bureau, personnel of the Bureau of Agriculture, local police, media, residents, and non-governmental organizations. More than 50 people stood in the sun, and the hot autumn tiger made everyone restless.

Shallow pits less than two meters deep will accumulate water in case of rain, which shows the difficulty of excavation and the risk of secondary pollution. (photography / Li Huiyi)

The victimized farmland in the forest has a sad history. In 1996, sand and gravel were stolen and a deep pit covering an area of 5.2 hectares and a depth of more than 20 meters was dug. In May 2013, a large amount of waste began to be dumped. Zheng Miaozhen, president of the anti-waste furnace ballast self-rescue association in Dalinli, said that between May 2013 and June 2014, these pits were filled with nearly 1 million tons of converter stone bought from China Iron and Steel Company during the steelmaking process of China Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., and Dai Wenqing, who is also in charge of Jianfa construction.

On March 26, 2020, the Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau and Wanda companies held a joint presentation meeting and publicly promised to complete all converter stone transportation plans within three years. On May 22, the Environmental Protection Bureau approved the cleaning plans put forward by Wanda companies. Lin Canming, chief of the waste Management Section, said that the clean-up period is 100000 tons in the first year, 200000 tons in the second year and 700000 tons in the third year, which also means that by May 21 next year (2021), ten thousand companies must clean up 100000 tons of converter stone.

Lin Canming stressed that it has been three months since the date of approval, and operators currently have to clear at least 20,000 tons to meet the schedule according to the clean-up plan, but ten thousand companies have only cleared more than 1,000 tons so far.

In the waste disposal area excavated by Wanda company, it is difficult to distinguish the nature and harm of the waste by the naked eye. (photography / Li Huiyi)

There is no light in the deep underground, and the total amount of waste found in excavation is as high as 4 million tons.

Lin Liqi, the project manager of Wanda Company, explains that at present, only 1046 tons have been cleared, and the main reason for the delay is the long rainy season in summer, rain encountered during excavation, easy collapse of pit slopes, difficult ground operations, and risks to personnel and machinery. In addition, what should we do after the converter stone is dug up? Lin Liqi stressed that none of the chemical or stacking sites has yet been established, and she hopes that the Environmental Protection Bureau can help.

Zhang Ruiyi, director of the Environmental Protection Bureau, immediately responded to Lin Liqi at the scene: "whoever gave the converter stone to Wanda at that time should go to him quickly. It is not time to ask the Environmental Protection Bureau to help." Lin Canming immediately added, "at that time (converter stone) came from Zoomlion (resources), so you have to go to Zoomlion (resources)." You have to go to whoever gives it to you. "

In addition, Lin Liqi also complained a lot. She said that during the investigation and excavation, it was found that the deepest place was 26 meters deep. If measured at 26 meters, there would be a total of 4 million tons of waste underground. She stressed, "our converter stone is 990000 tons, but what we dig up is construction waste and some unknown waste. This is a more difficult problem for us."

The cleaning plan only says 1 million tons of converter stone, but the industry now says that the total amount of waste is as high as 4 million tons. What does it contain for 3 million tons of waste? How serious will the pollution be? The EPA did not respond.

Zhang Ruiyi, director of environmental protection in Kaohsiung City, stressed that if Wanda companies want to deal with the storage of converter stones after excavation, they must first find Zhonglian Resources, the source of the products. (photography / Li Huiyi)

There is no supervision mechanism for the clean-up plan, and the Environmental Protection Bureau dodges and does not respond.

The problem of furnace ballast is becoming more and more thorny, unexcavated like unexploded bombs and excavated like hot potatoes. What makes the citizens of Kaohsiung even more uneasy is that there is no monitoring mechanism for the implementation of the clean-up plan.

Wang Jiqiang, commissioner of the Zunghuai Culture and Education Foundation, said that the cleaning plan clearly states that the operators should use XRF (X-ray fluorescence analysis) to check whether the excavated waste is furnace ballast, but since the excavation, Wanda companies and the Environmental Protection Agency have not done XRF testing at all. Which of the wastes dug up at present are furnace ballast? Is that construction waste? And what are other unknown wastes? It is necessary for both the Environmental Protection Agency and the operators to make it clear.

Although the Da Lin Li Anti-waste Furnace Ballast self-Rescue Association did not participate in the survey today, President Zheng Miaozhen said in an interview that the furnace ballast at site 512 in the Da Lin section was used by the operators in laying external roads at that time, and it was also the first area to be excavated by the industry. it has not yet been cleared, and Wanda companies have moved their positions to excavate the main backfill, which is very worrying. She also called on the EPA to set up a supervision mechanism as soon as possible and send special personnel or working groups to supervise the cleaning process of the operators. "Please the EPA not only look at the statements put forward by Wanda or Zoomlion (resources) to supervise!"

Lu Shu-mei, deputy speaker of the Kaohsiung City Council, said that when Wanda companies buried converter stones in farmland, they obviously had the wrong mentality, and she hoped that the Environmental Protection Bureau would have a set of proper measures to deal with the follow-up. Zhu Xinqiang, a city councilman without party membership, believes that it is necessary to ask the political style unit to conduct an investigation, trace the relevant administrative responsibilities, and find out who was quasi-Zhonglian (resources) burying the stove here at that time.

As for how the supervision mechanism should be strengthened, Environmental Protection Secretary Zhang Ruiyi refused to respond specifically, saying only, "shall we respond in writing?" "We deal with it in accordance with the law." "We will monitor it regularly."

However, today, the EPA once again shouted to the operators that if the clean-up does not meet the schedule, the EPA will abolish the clean-up plan and ask three cleaning obligations, including Zoomlion Resources, Wanda Company, and Jianfa Construction, to pay 8.9 billion yuan in performance fees. after the fee is collected instead of the performance fee, the EPA will clean up on its behalf.