This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003586 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON AND AID 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/RSP/TC AND OES/PCI 
 
USDOC FOR 6200/ITA/TD/ENVIROTECH EXPORTS 
 
FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE 
 
EPA FOR OIA - DAN THOMPSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ECON TW ESTH
SUBJECT: Additional Pollution Incidents in Southern Taiwan 
 
Ref: a) Taipei 2997; b) Taipei 3491 
 
¶1.  Summary.  In a series of investigations into industrial 
pollution in Southern Taiwan, Taiwan's Environmental 
Protection Administration (TEPA) completed research on 175 
unoccupied industrial factories and found five major 
incidents of soil and groundwater pollution that resulted 
from the production processes at currently closed factories 
in southern Taiwan.  The five plants in Kaohsiung, which 
produced petrochemicals, have all been closed for some time. 
Kaohsiung County Environmental officials report that, while 
one site has already been converted to residential use, the 
situation at the remaining sites is improving and clean up 
will be accomplished before the land is put to new use.  End 
Summary 
 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2.  Based on TEPA's report, the five polluted sites are as 
follows: 
 
  -    China Petrochemical Development Corporation (CPDC) in 
     Chienchen, Kaohsiung City.  This plant covered approximately 
     45 acres of land.  It manufactured several petrochemical 
     items including hydrochloric acid and bleaching agents.  The 
     plant ceased production in 1988. The equipment was sold and 
     shipped to Indonesia.  CPDC has recently been fined for 
     being involved in the previously reported pollution 
     incidents in Tainan and Kaohsiung.  See reftels for details. 
 
  -    Taiwan VCM Corporation's Kaohsiung plant, 
     a 7.5-acre site, was leased to Taiwan VCM by CPDC. It 
     produced vinyl chloride monomer (VCM).   The plant 
     ceased production in 1992 when the site was also to 
     CPDC. 
 
  -    Kaohsiung Sulfuric Acid Corporation's Kaohsiung plant 
     (KSAC).  Government-run KSAC was one of the major fertilizer 
     producers in Taiwan.  It occupied 22 acres of land. 
     Production ceased in 2004 and the land was rezoned for 
     commercial use. 
 
  -    Feng An Metal Industrial Corporation in Hsiaokang, 
     Kaohsiung City, operated a zinc and zinc alloy ingot 
     facility on a ten acre site in the Ta Fa Industrial Park. 
     The plant ceased operation in 1999.  Responsibility for the 
     clean up of this site is being debated.  The company 
     defaulted on $310 million in debt and was foreclosed on. 
     The owner, Chu An-hsiung, former Speaker of Kaohsiung City 
     Council, is presently a fugitive from justice on a warrant 
     stemming from an election fixing scandal in the Kaohsiung 
     City Council.  He is believed to be in hiding on the 
     mainland. 
 
  -    Ho Cheng Metal Industrial Corporation in Tashe, 
     Kaohsing County, which began producing iron, copper, and 
     stainless steel strips in 1984.  Production was halted in 
     ¶2000.  The facilities and land were auctioned to private 
     investors who built residential apartments on the land. 
 
 
¶3.  Recently, two major newspapers published headline 
articles concerning TEPA's findings. Based on press reports, 
there was extremely high mercury content (11,600ppm parts 
per million) in the soil in the CPDC Chienchen plant, 580 
times more than TEPA's established standard for soil 
pollution levels (TEPA's maximum limit is 20ppm). Findings 
also indicated that groundwater at CPDC's plant and the 
adjacent Taiwan VCM plant was seriously contaminated.  Total 
Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) levels in the soil of KSAC's 
site tested at 4,790 ppm, much higher than TEPA's standard 
of 1,000 ppm. 
 
¶4.  Officials of Kaohsiung's EPA (KEPA) expressed 
disappointment in the media reports.  Division Chief Wang 
said the situation is not as awful as the reports indicated. 
According to Wang, KEPA alerted CPDC, Taiwan VCM, and KSAC 
about the pollution problems in June 2004, and requested the 
companies to develop plans for clean up.  KEPA initially 
demanded that the clean up be completed by June 2005. 
However, at the request of the plant owners, the deadline 
was extended to January 15, 2006.  According to Wang, CPDC 
is in the process of removing the contaminated soil from its 
plant and the adjacent Taiwan VDM.  The polluted soil has 
been packed in plastics bags and stored in warehouses.  KEPA 
officials have been monitoring the removal process.  A final 
disposal plan for the removed soil has yet to be developed. 
 
¶5.  KEPA conducted a second inspection of the three above- 
mentioned plants in July this year.  Results showed 
improvement of the situation.  According to Wang, mercury 
content in the soil of CPDC plant and the adjacent Taiwan 
VCM site declined to 560ppm. Results also showed that TPH 
levels in the soil of KSAC decreased to 2,470ppm.  While 
saying that pollution in groundwater had also decreased, 
Wang did not have specific figures for the groundwater. 
 
¶6.  KEPA officials have been trying to convince Kaohsiung 
residents that tap water is safe to drink because none of 
the contaminated groundwater was supplied for household use. 
Meanwhile, in response to the media's reports of plans on 
developing the proposed Kaohsiung Economic and Trade Park on 
polluted sites, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai stated that the 
city's EPA would maintain close supervision on the 
operators' improvement efforts, and that no rezoning plans 
on the sites would be approved until the soil is 
decontaminated.  Mayor Chen endorses the development of the 
park and announced that the project would move forward as 
scheduled. 
 
¶7.  Comment:  Like the CPDC sites mentioned in reftels, one 
of the current sites had been sold to the public sector. 
Plans were in place to privately develop the other sites as 
well.  This has delayed clean up, as the new owners do not 
wish to be responsible for problems caused by the previous 
owners which were not disclosed to the new owners. 
Environmental NGOs are closely checking the sites of other 
factories that formerly belonged to government-run or 
government-subsidized companies.  It is likely that more 
polluted sites will be discovered.  AIT/K will continue to 
monitor the situation and report further developments as 
they become known. End Comment. 
 
 
 
 
Thiele 
 
Paal