A million tons of slag pollute farmland, tormenting residents for seven years before a glimmer of hope appears; the Kaohsiung City Government and the operator promise to finish cleanup in three years, while environmental groups worry about secondary
After a delay of six years and eleven months, a million tons of slag polluting farmland - the controversy over the "China Steel converter slag buried in farmland" in Dalin Village, Qishan District, Kaohsiung - has finally seen a glimmer of hope! The Environmental Protection Bureau of the Kaohsiung City Government held a briefing on the morning of March 26, at which one of the original burying operators, Wanda Material Technology Company, explained the content and schedule of the cleanup plan.
The company's project manager Lin Liqi stated that the removal plan will be carried out over three years, and if unidentified waste other than converter slag is dug up, it will be placed on site and tested jointly with the Environmental Protection Bureau. Wu Jia'an, deputy director of the Environmental Protection Bureau, promised, "We will absolutely not remove only the converter slag. Even if we dig down and find more than 990,000 tons today, we will still clear everything out."
However, residents and environmental groups worry that improper excavation could cause secondary pollution. "Once the rainy season comes, what will happen to the waste exposed outside? Will it cause further pollution?" In addition, regarding the plan to transport the excavated converter slag to the Dafa Industrial Zone in Daliao, Daliao residents expressed concern: "Regarding the information about transporting converter slag to the Dafa Industrial Zone, the government and the operator must make it public online. We do not want the suffering of Qishan people to be transferred to Daliao."
No crops planted, slag buried instead; the plight of farmland is painful; residents tormented for nearly seven years; Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau and operator finally willing to come forward and resolve it
The controversy over converter slag buried in farmland is precisely a reflection of the plight of rural Taiwan. As agricultural development increasingly declines and land output value falls, farmland becomes a place for illegal factories or a dumping ground for all kinds of waste.
The victimized farmland in Dalin, Qishan was first illegally mined for sand and gravel in 1996, leaving a pit with a total area of 5.2 hectares and a depth of more than 20 m. Seventeen years later, in May 2013, residents began to notice truck after truck continuously dumping unidentified waste into the pit.
Zheng Miaozhen, chairperson of the Dalin Village Self-Rescue Association Against Waste Slag, stated that between May 2013 and June 2014, these pits were backfilled by the landowner, Huang Yinling, who is also the person in charge of Jianfa Construction, and Dai Wenqing, the person in charge of Wanda Material Technology, with nearly 1 million tons of converter slag purchased from Zhonglian Resources and generated during the steelmaking process of China Steel Corporation.
However, none of these actions could be regulated, because in 1999 the Kaohsiung City Government approved China Steel's registration of residual steelmaking slag as a "product" in its factory registration certificate. Therefore, when the Environmental Protection Bureau received reports from Dalin residents, it could not exercise public authority under the "Waste Disposal Act" and could only fine the operator NT$60,000 under the "Regional Plan Act."
Over the years, the fate of the converter slag backfill area has been full of setbacks, and those who wanted to protect the farmland have also faced difficulties step by step. In May 2014, residents and environmental groups petitioned the Control Yuan; in September of the same year, Zheng Miaozhen, chairperson of the Self-Rescue Association, went alone to inspect the converter slag backfill area and was beaten in a conflict with on-site personnel, suffering serious injuries and being hospitalized for one month; in February 2015, the Control Yuan issued a corrective measure against the Kaohsiung City Government, holding that the Kaohsiung City Government had seriously damaged government credibility and had indeed committed wrongdoing; on May 31, 2017, the Kaohsiung High Administrative Court ruled that "the 'Waste Disposal Act' should apply, and the competent authority has the obligation to order the responsible person to remove it."
It was not until March 12, 2020, that the Kaohsiung City Environmental Protection Bureau finally took action and actively reviewed and approved the cleanup plan submitted by the operator.
Many city councilors appeared to express concern: the city government should give the people of Qishan an explanation
Regarding the Dalin farmland case in Qishan, those responsible for removing converter slag and other waste include Wanda Company (person in charge Dai Wenqing), Jianfa Company (person in charge Huang Yinling, who is also the landowner), and Zhonglian Resources Company. However, at the briefing held on March 26, only Wanda Company sent personnel to attend and explain throughout, while Zhonglian Resources Company only sent an employee surnamed Zhu to sign in.
Compared with the sparse attendance of those responsible for handling the matter, the enthusiastic appearance of city councilors was instead striking. A total of eight city councilors or assistants from the Kuomintang, independents, the Democratic Progressive Party, and the New Power Party took turns speaking out of concern for this case. Kuomintang member Song Libin said, "Why is it only Wanda that has come out? Why has no one else who participated in the illegal process appeared?"
Democratic Progressive Party member Lin Fubao said, "The government agencies and civil servants responsible for this case should all be identified. I believe the source lies with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and the central government cannot ignore it." Independent Li Shunjin emphasized that the city government only handled it under the Waste Disposal Act at the time, but did not use the Soil Pollution Act (Soil and Groundwater Pollution Remediation Act) to exercise control. "I believe the city government must give the people of Qishan an explanation."
