Taichung Power Plant Fined NT$20m by Taichung City Gov’t

Taichung Power Plant Fined NT$20m by Taichung City Gov’t

Source: United Daily News

April 16, 2019

Taichung Power Plant, a coal-fired power plant regarded as the main culprit in causing air pollution in central Taiwan, was found pumping out sewage with excessive pollutants after being found to be emitting excessive pollutants into the air. To this matter, Taichung City Hall yesterday issued a fine of NT$20 million, the highest ever imposed on a state-owned enterprise.

Last August, the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau tested the sewage at the plant and found the level of nitrogen in nitrate exceeding the limit. On January 9 and March 6, 2019, excessive nitrogen in nitrate was tested again and the levels of the chemical material became higher.

Taichung Information Bureau Director-General Wu Huang-sheng (吳皇昇) stated that although the power plant submitted its corrective action plan, its sewage still contained excessive pollutants. Owing to inappropriate procedures and sloppy contents, Taichung City Hall returned the action plan, and required the plant to submit a new corrective action plan within two weeks.

Wu Chih-chao (吳志超), Director-General of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau, indicated that after the plant submitted its corrective action plan, the bureau would give an improvement period up to 90 days, and that during the improvement period, the bureau would continue to randomly check the plant, and administer penalties every time if violations were found. Wu also stated that an official re-inspection would be conducted after the improvement period, and that if the plant still failed, Taichung City Hall would administer the most severe penalty, including compelling the plant to stop operations.

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