Eco News

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Taiwan's Critically Endangered Pink Dolphins Need You !

Here's an appeal I received today from the environmental group TEAN concerning Taiwan's critically endangered Pink Dolphins. There's a bit on the Pink Dolphins in the Wildlife thread: http://www.expatsa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=989&p=4885#p4885

An appeal to sign a petition against the expansion of the CTSP Erlin Science Park in Changhua County. This pollution generated from this development threaten local farmers and fishers and also the coastal environment which is home to the critically endangered Taiwan Humpback Dolphins. Our colleagues at the Taiwan Environmental Action Network (TEAN http://www.teanonline.org/) have drafted a petition letter. Please sign it and help us to stop this development.


Dear friends,

On October 5, 2009, the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) will hold the final review of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) on the expansion of the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) project in Erlin. The local farmers, fishermen and dairy farmers will travel 3 hours north to Taipei to express their objection against the expansion so they can protect their farms and lands.

In addition, discharge from the Science Park will worsen the conditions for the critically endangered (CR on IUCN red list) population of Taiwan Humpback dolphins which reside year round in these inshore waters.

We need your support URGENTLY to help the farmers and environmental groups in Taiwan. Please click on the link and sign the petition letter:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-taiwan-ctsp-erlin-science-park-protect-farmers-fishermen-and-dairy-farms

Please forward the petition to your family members, friends and colleagues. The more international support we can generate, the more the pressure will be on the Taiwan government. Thank you!

In solidarity,

Echo J. Lin

General-Secretary
Taiwan Environmental Action Network


Stop Taiwan CTSP Erlin Science Park, Protect Farmers, Fishermen and the Environment from High-tech Hazards

The Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) has set up three sites in the central Taiwan since September, 2002 and is now proposing the 4th stage of its expansion in Erlin, Changhua County, Taiwan. The CTSP has acquired 1,890 acres of land in the other three sites and is proposing to acquire 1,569 acres (635 hectares) for the Erlin site, which includes 741 acres (300 hectares) to satisfy the need of AU Optronics, a mass production TFT-LCD manufacturer. The health and social impacts associated with the expansion far outweigh any possible benefit and will destroy the livelihood of the local farmers, oyster fishermen and dairy farms.

The Erlin Science Park project will:

-- Demand 160,000 tons of clean water per day from Changhua area, where the underground aquifers in the vicinity are currently the main water supply for drinking and irrigation.

-- Inevitably destroy the oyster farms along the coast because of the 160,000 tons of wastewater discharged from the science park everyday.

-- Significantly and unavoidably increase local air and water pollution;

-- The coastal waters of Changhua County, where the Science Park is to be located, is home to the unique population of fewer than 100 Taiwan Humpback Dolphins (aka Taiwan White/Pink Dolphins). The population's decline is attributed to, inter alia, air and water pollution. This population was designated CR, or critically endangered, by the IUCN in August 2008, yet the developers and supporting government agencies have have been slow to ackhowledge the animals' existence, much less that these science park projects will likely hasten the populations' extinction.

-- Create real potential for contamination from 1,093 tons of volatile organic compounds per year and numerous kinds of hazardous chemicals

-- Seriously violate the rights of the local farmers by confiscating and/or contaminating their land;

-- Seriously violate the right to safe drinking water for the local residents;
Over the years, the high-tech industry in Taiwan has thrived under the protective wings of the government. At the same time, IT corporations have failed to internalize the environmental costs of their production; they have again and again evaded the pollution costs they have imposed onto the local environment and communities. Furthermore, the high-tech industry has cloaked its deception through “compliance” with local environmental regulations, which are already outdated. Existing regulations on the books has been outpaced by rapid technological changes. There is currently no written law that adequately regulates high-tech pollution in Taiwan. As a result, IT corporations have easily slipped under the radar in their questionable environmental practices.

Before the CTSP precedes its ongoing expansion, we call on Taiwan Legislature, National Science Council and EPA to address the following issues:

--to stop the CTSP Erlin Science Park project as it is proposed;

--to revise the Information Disclosure Act to address the issue of governmental and corporate transparency regarding pollution and toxics released into our environment;

--to modify the Regulation on the Management of Hazardous Substances with the spirit of REACH, particularly the emphasis on corporations’ responsibility;

--to amend the standards on wastewater, air pollutants, and waste according to the characteristics of the high-tech industry.

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The Changhua County Environmental Protection Alliance need 1000 people to help make a statement that we care about the environment. On Sunday, October 25, 2009 people will be coming together to show that they want to Save the Changhua Coast. Please join us and show that we care about the Changhua Coast.


SAVE THE CHANGHUA COAST

Time: Oct. 25 (Sun) 9:30am-8pm
Place: Fangyuan Township, County Route 17, turn west at km marker 55 (芳苑鄉 省道17 號55 公里處轉向西)
Transportation: Free bus service to and from Changhua Train Station is available. A bus will leave the station at 8:30am sharp. The return bus leaves from the coast at 5pm.

ACTIVITY: We are inviting you to help SAVE THE CHANGHUA COAST. In an effort to raise awareness that we as a society must preserve this area, environmental groups are joining forces for a day of activities on Sunday, October 25. The main event is a group action and photo shoot, for which we need 1000 people from 10:30-11:30am. Some will hold white umbrellas and form the shape of a dolphin, while others will hold red umbrellas to spell out “S.O.S.” In addition, there will be a full day of musical performances, storytelling, ecological tours of the area, oxcart rides, films and other entertainments. Both lunch and dinner will be provided, including vegetarian meals.

BACKGROUND: The Changhua Coast has Taiwan’s largest area of mud flats, which present a valuable ecosystem home to plants and animals both on land and in the ocean. The waters off Changhua County are notably a valuable habitat for a critically endangered population of humpback dolphins, who tend to live in shallow waters within 8km of the shoreline. The dolphins and the rest of this coastal ecosystem are threatened by pollution from the China Petroleum Corp.’s (CPC) naphtha cracker plant and a development plan for a large industrial zone called the Central Taiwan Science Park.

Changhua County Tourism Bureau refused to support this event because it involved criticism of China Petroleum Corporation and the development plans for a sprawling industrial zone to be called the Central Taiwan Science Park. In this regard, we can only ask, is this a government concerned for the majority of Taiwan’s citizens, or only for a minority which controls large business interests?

Register to participate:
Online: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGlYdjFuTHR4VzNUU1dueU9fUUVLQUE6MA
Email: tepu.cd@msa.hinet.net or 7626609@gmail.com
Phone: Ms. Shi 0911-761-839 or Mr. Liao 0919-524-911

General Contact Information:
Changhua County Environmental Protection Alliance
Tel: 04-7626609
Address: 4F #5 Minzu Rd., Lane 15, Changhua City 500
Email: tepu.cd@msa.hinet.net or 7626609@gmail.com
Web Site: http://tepucd.moc.tw/

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The saga of the CTSP Erlin Science Park and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project

Some interesting comment on the CTSP Erlin Science Park project from the Taiwanwatch blog. An English translation of their article appears below. A shortened version of this article appeared in Apple Daily.

The Folly of the Forth Stage Expansion and Kuokuang Petrochemical Project
http://taiwansousa.blogspot.com/2009/11/saga-of-ctsp-erlin-science-park-and.html
By Xie and Lin

Despite repeated criticism, on 13 October the contentious environmental impact report of the fourth stage expansion of the Central Taiwan Science Park was finally granted provisional approval. The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) maintains that the environmental impact assessment examination was conducted professionally, and was not granted provisional approval due to pressure from the developer, the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau of the National Science Council. Nevertheless, the 13 October extension meeting of the fifth preliminary examination and the 31 October Environmental Impact Assessment Committee meeting were conducted behind layers of security blocking out locals that would be harmed by the development and opposed environmental organizations, clearly demonstrating that the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee was not free from strong pressure from the administration.

In a press release, issued during a break in the fifth preliminary examination meeting, the EPA noted that the project developer, the National Science Council, revised its original development plan in order to address misgivings of the public and environmental organizations regarding the preliminary examination process; therefore it was fair and reasonable that the Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan convene a council of the various concerned ministries and commissions in order to discuss and confirm the feasibility of the latest development plan revisions. Before the extension meeting of the fifth preliminary examination, Premier Wu Den-yih revealed the council’s conclusion regarding the revised wastewater drainage route; specifically, the wastewater would not be discharged into the Zhuoshui River or the old Zhuoshui River bed, but rather diverted to an estuary or offered to Kuokuang Petrochemical Company for cooling purposes (see report in Commercial Times, 3 Oct. 2009). Curiously, the revised drainage route did not appear in the developer’s explanation of the environmental impact report or in the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee’s records, and the first line item of the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee’s preliminary examination conclusion report suggests a mysterious meeting of minds among the developer, high-ranking administrative officials, and the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee. If high-ranking administrative officials and the developer actually respect the environmental impact assessment process, all details regarding how the revisions were drafted and evaluated should be made public and resubmitted to the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee. However this glaring defect remains unaddressed and extraordinary clairvoyance or providential coincidences emerged in the preliminary examination conclusion report. This being the case, tell me please, what happened to the independence of the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee? And what happened to the rights of the public to be informed and participate in policymaking?

It has long been the case that officials presiding over economic issues and elected politicians use their authority to push through development plans or policies that have not undergone environmental impact assessment and flout national land planning regulations. Without consulting those citizens whose rights and interests will be affected, they make promises to potential beneficiary businesses and stakeholders, and then resort to various forms of political manipulation to force the EPA and Environmental Impact Assessment Committee to toe the line. The fourth stage expansion of the Central Taiwan Science Park is a classic example. Such a myopic political agenda and an economic development policy that flouts environmental evaluation not only threatens the independence of the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee, but also tramples on the environment and the rights and interests of the people and threatens national development.

Still more lamentable, even in the wake of Mother Nature’s warnings, the proponents of these shortsighted projects have not paused for reflection. After the “flooding of 88” [flooding that came with Typhoon Morakot beginning on 8 August 2009], not only have climate change-induced disasters left Taiwanese in a state of heightened anxiety, but they continue to ravage people all over the world. In this state of affairs, the newly installed Minister of Economics, Shi Yansiang, remarked at a business affairs meeting earlier this month, “In the future, every development project will be prioritized according to those ‘issues of most importance’” (meaning priority will be given to the fourth stage expansion of the Central Taiwan Science Park, Kuokuang Petrochemical Company, and the fifth stage expansion of the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Plant), with the primary goal of increasing opportunities for employment. His address entirely ignored that the economic and environmental impacts of these development projects are also “issues of most importance.” To continue ignoring these “issues of most importance” will create obstacles to dealing with climate change and result in the loss of an ideal opportunity to begin developing in a more sustainable fashion.

The fourth stage expansion of the Central Taiwan Science Park will primarily increase production capacity of TFT-LCDs and semiconductors. These two industries of “most importance” not only nearly collapsed under the assault of the financial tsunami, but will continue to face increasingly destructive international competition. The expansion will definitely not create more employment opportunities and a more stable socioeconomic situation. This is not a Blue Ocean Strategy. Furthermore, the environment and health risks that will come with it—various poorly understood toxic pollutants present in gaseous emissions and wastewater effluents, consumption of water resources, greenhouse gas emissions—will be difficult to bear, especially considering the site of the expansion plan in Changhua County. This water deficient region is already suffering surface subsidence due to over-extraction of groundwater. The project will not only take hundreds of hectares of farmland that help prevent floods, retain groundwater, and sequester carbon dioxide and turn them into cement lots with impermeable surfaces; but will also pump 4800 tons of groundwater daily (in the short-term) and transfer 66,500 tons of water daily from agricultural water resources drawn from the Jiji diversion weir (in the medium-term). In the long term it is planned to use 160,000 tons daily from the Dadu diversion weir, which is still only in the planning stages. If this project doesn’t exacerbate surface subsidence and render coastal areas more vulnerable to climate change-induced rising sea levels and increasingly frequent and violent extreme weather events, then it will force more agricultural areas to lay fallow, reducing national self-sufficiency and threatening food security.

Agriculture, an essential and foundational industry totally dependent on the weather, will be most affected by climate change. The government is not considering strengthening our agricultural industry’s ability to cope with climate change through conservation of water resources and reducing consumption in order to guarantee sufficient water for agriculture and daily use; but on the contrary repeatedly rolls out development plans that will exacerbate climate change and weaken agriculture. Increasingly precious water resources are being proffered to a minority of manufacturing businesses to squander in an attempt to maintain a tenuous grip on global luxury product markets. Could this be anything but suicide?

Climate change is already an urgent threat, and we have little time to effectively address it. If humanity is to avert imminent dangerous climate change, immense transformations must be carried out including dramatic shifts in industrial development and energy infrastructure. Before 2050 greenhouse gas emissions must be approaching zero, and before the end of the century we must achieve negative greenhouse gas emissions—the emissions that we continue to pump into the atmosphere today must somehow be physically removed. This arduous mission also offers enormous opportunities for economic development, however, and is a turning point for more environmental friendly development. This is an opportunity to create a renewable energy-based, highly efficient economy, and throw off our reliance on imported fuels such as oil and coal. This not only will increase our energy autonomy, but will greatly reduce the emission of numerous pollutants. Only a system that can meet our basic needs with local resources and relies on sustainable, locally produced energy warrants the label “Taiwan’s Economic Development Blue Ocean Strategy.”

Unfortunately, following the financial tsunami our government continues to emphasize investment of increasingly scarce resources in large-scale, greenhouse gas-intensive development projects, not only swallowing up vast resources necessary for the radical shift of our economic system, but intensifying the difficulty of averting dangerous climate change. The direct and indirect emissions of the fourth stage expansion of the Central Taiwan Science Park will amount to 10,950,000 tons of CO2 equivalent annually, equivalent to about 4% of our current total national emissions. Added to the emissions of Kuokuang Petrochemical, the fifth stage expansion the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Plant, and the Dragon Steel project which has already passed its environmental evaluation, Taiwan will increase total emissions by 16%, more than the current emissions of the transportation, residential, or commercial sectors. In other words, every Taiwanese could stop driving or stop using electricity at home and the reductions would still not equal the emissions added by these heavy development projects! Could the government actually not understand that the more we increase our emissions today, the greater will be the burden of decreasing them tomorrow, the greater will be the dangers posed by climate change, and the less capable we will be to deal with them. If we don’t change our direction of development today, tomorrow we may not have the chance or the resources.

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Swimming Channel for the White Dolphins? A Sudden Burst of a Marvelous Idea from Ma Government

A translation of a recent article that appeared in the China times. The translation is courtesy of Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association's translation department [material in brackets added by translator for clarification].

China Times, 7 November 2009
http://life.chinatimes.com/2009Cti/Channel/Life/life-article/0,5047,11051801+112009110700036,00.html

Swimming Channel for the White Dolphins? A Sudden Burst of a Marvelous Idea from Ma Government
Rong Hua-yi/Reporting in Taipei

Premier Wu Dun-yi acknowledged that the effluents from the Central Science Park Fourth Stage would go “directly into the ocean”, however, conservation groups and Democratic Progressive Party legislator Tien Chiu-Chin yesterday raised doubts about this, as it would mean a serious breach of the near extinct “Chinese White Dolphin’s” habitat. In order to address this the Ma government has come up with the “marvelous idea”: consideration of a “construction a special water lane” and training the dolphins to swim away from the pollution. Problem is that in the assessment of the local experts “there will be a very high degree of difficulty”.

Conservationists yesterday made a plea for the Chinese White dolphin yesterday, including the chairman of the Eastern Taiwan Strait Sousa Technical Advisory Working Group, Peter S. Ross, and the chairman of the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Cetacean Specialist Group, Randall R. Reeves, Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association chair Robin Winkler, and John Tsai chair of the Changhua Environmental Protection Union.

The Chinese White dolphin, also called the “Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin”, and known as “Matsu’s Fish or baiwua” in Taiwanese [?], is classified by the Forestry Bureau as being in the highest category of protection, and inhabits shallow seas near to the shore, there are currently about 90 animals remaining; they are active in the coastal waters from Miaoli to Chiayi, they are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as Critically Endangered, facing life threatening factors of polluted water, lack of fresh water, land reclamation, fishing nets, marine noise, lack of food, starvation.

The Forestry Bureau of the Council of Agriculture Specialist LIU, Cyong-lian stated that the planned destination for the Central Science Park’s pollution discharge was in the area where the Chinese dolphins are active, and that an interagency committee under the Executive Yuan had met with Kuokuang Petrochemical, local and foreign experts to discuss how to mitigate the impact on the dolphins, with one possible solution having been offered being to “build a dedicated channel for the dolphins to swim through”.

Assistant Professor Otto Li of the Institute of Marine Affairs at National Sun Yat Sen University pointed out that getting the dolphins to “obediently use the swimming channel”, while there are examples in other contries, but they used natural fjords whereas Taiwan lacks such geological formations and would require it to be entirely constructed by humans with a very high cost and no precedent. Furthermore, the dolphins won’t necessarily be so obedient and experts on animal behavior think this is impossible.


　
中國時報 　2009.11.07

白海豚游水道？馬政府突發奇想

戎華儀／台北報導


　行政院長吳敦義承諾，中科四期汙水將「直接排入海中」，但保育團體與民進黨立委田秋堇 昨日質疑，此舉會嚴重破壞瀕臨滅絕的「中華白海豚」棲息海域。為解決此問題，馬政府曾一度「突發奇想」，考慮「築一條專用水道」，訓練海豚游水道以避開汙 水，只是國內外專家評估「難度很高」。

　東台灣海峽白海豚技術顧問工作小組主席羅斯（Peter S. Ross）、國際自然保育聯盟鯨類專家小組主席瑞維斯（Randall R. Reeves）、台灣蠻野心足生態協會理事長文魯彬、彰化環境保護聯盟理事長蔡嘉陽等保育人士，昨日為中華白海豚請命。

　中華白海豚又稱「印太洋駝海豚」，俗稱「媽祖魚、白魚吳」，林務局列為一級保育動物，以近岸、淺海為棲息海域，目前僅剩約九十隻，活動於 苗栗到嘉義沿海，生育率低，被國際自然保育聯盟（ＩＵＣＮ）列為「瀕臨滅絕」生物，面臨汙水排放、缺乏淡水、填海造陸、漁具誤纏、水中噪音和糧食不足、飢 餓等生存危機。

　農委會林務局簡任技正劉瓊蓮表示，中科汙水預訂排放的區域就在中華白海豚活動的海域內，行政院跨部會小組曾和國光石化、國內外學者專家討論如何降低對海豚的衝擊，其中一個做法，是「築水道讓海豚游過」。

　中山大學海洋事務研究所助理教授李政諦指出，要海豚「乖乖游水道」雖在國外有先例，但利用的是天然峽灣地形，台灣西岸沿海沒有這樣的地形，必須完全人工興築，費用高昂，全球沒有先例，且海豚是否真的乖乖走水道，動物行為專家認為要實際執行幾乎不可能。

　其他因應方案包括以棲地復育方式，順應中華白海豚在平均七點多公尺深的海域活動的習性，在填海造陸時墊高新生地沿岸的海底，創造淺海地形，花費比築水道稍低，但也是一大工程。

　李政諦說，「盡可能不要產生（汙水）是最好。」他指，既然官方和國光石化都在想各種方案，表示大家都知道汙水可能造成生態衝擊，只是，包括「讓海豚乖乖游水道」等方案，沒有科學證據證明確實能解決問題，「做了，只能說聊表心意。」

http://life.chinatimes.com/2009Cti/Chan ... 36,00.html