Medium- and high-pollution illegal factories poison the land of fish and rice, yet the Ministry of Economic Affairs refuses to publish its inventory list, and environmental groups criticize the Factory Management and Guidance Act as all show and no

The land of fish and rice is actually harboring the root of a food safety crisis: medium- and high-pollution factories on farmland! The Citizens of the Earth Foundation, the Changhua Environmental Protection Union, the Green Citizens' Action Alliance and other environmental groups held a press conference today (9/8), accusing at least 1467 factories among the illegal factories on farmland across Taiwan of being suspected of medium or high pollution, exposing surrounding farmland to the hazards of heavy metals and chemicals, with the rice and vegetables produced possibly containing toxic substances illegally discharged and ending up being eaten by the public.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs once spent more than 70 million yuan to inventory the locations and attributes of newly added illegal factories, yet it has been unwilling to make public the lists and locations of these factories. Environmental groups sharply criticized the government for using the excuse that pollution hazards cannot be confirmed, allowing medium- and high-pollution illegal factories to continue existing in rural areas and become an unexploded bomb for food safety and environmental crises.

Illegal factories discharge heavy metals at random, green oysters reappear

Wu Hui-chun, executive secretary of the Changhua Environmental Protection Union, specially brought wild rock oysters from the mouth of the Yangzicuo River in Lukang. Because wastewater from illegal factories on farmland there is discharged into the stream, the rock oysters have long been contaminated by heavy metals, showing a frightening green and yellowish-brown color. Wu stressed, "When everyone is worried about the food safety crisis of lean meat powder, the fish products and vegetables of agricultural counties are facing even more urgent pollution hazards."

Wu Hui-chun said that Changhua County is the county or city most severely overrun by factories on farmland. Changhua has announced 924 parcels of contaminated farmland under control, nearly 149 hectares, equivalent to 5.7 Daan Forest Parks. The heavy metals exceeding standards include copper, zinc, nickel, mercury, cadmium, chromium, arsenic and lead. These pollution sources cannot be completely eliminated; apart from farmland permanently losing productivity, polluted substances continue to flow with rainwater into farmland and coastal areas, and the affected agricultural and fishery products continue to be shipped to market, with the harm still impossible to repair to this day.

Environmental groups criticize the Ministry of Economic Affairs for not disclosing information, saying the Factory Management and Guidance Act is merely a sham

According to Ministry of Economic Affairs data, 314 medium- and high-pollution illegal factories have actually been legalized on the spot and registered as temporary factories, and another 1153 unregistered medium- and high-pollution factories exist, but the Ministry of Economic Affairs refuses to publish the list and locations.

Tsai Chung-yueh, deputy chief executive of the Citizens of the Earth Foundation, pointed out that on September 2 the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced the subsidiary regulation of the Factory Management and Guidance Act, the "Principles for Handling the Transformation, Relocation or Closure of Existing Unregistered Factories Not Classified as Low Pollution and the Counseling Period" (hereinafter referred to as the Medium- and High-Pollution Relocation Principles), which stipulates that medium- and high-pollution illegal factories on farmland must transform, close or relocate within six years. However, with illegal factories continuing to surge, it has no deterrent force at all.

Tsai Chung-yueh said that the Medium- and High-Pollution Relocation Principles are merely a sham, with no clear relocation plan, only allowing factory owners to keep delaying, and turning farmland into a criminal paradise for illegal factories. Tsai pointed out that the Ministry of Economic Affairs spent 70 million of taxpayers' money on the inventory and has grasped 1467 medium- and high-pollution factories; it should announce their hazard attributes and locations so as to create pressure for relocation and curb factory owners' wait-and-see attitude.

The government provides no supporting measures for transformation; operators facing closure would rather take the risk and continue breaking the law

Kuo Hung-yi, a lawyer at the Wild at Heart Ecological Association, also said that the Medium- and High-Pollution Relocation Principles have only goals and no concrete actions. The government has not stepped forward to lead the migration of industrial chain clusters, nor has it provided land and low-interest loan channels, making these medium- and high-pollution industries, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises, afraid to transform or relocate, and in the end they can only choose to close.

Kuo also pointed out that the Medium- and High-Pollution Relocation Principles require operators to submit transformation, relocation or closure plans before March 19, 2021, yet the relevant counseling plans of county and city governments remain stagnant and delayed. During transformation, operators face difficulties such as the disappearance of industrial clusters and the need for capital scheduling, and the government has completely failed to propose supporting measures to assist them. Even if the new law is passed, medium- and high-pollution factories will still keep slacking off.

The government continues to cover up for factories discharging pollution on farmland, causing unscrupulous factories to keep illegally discharging and harming food safety

Tseng Hung-wen, deputy secretary-general of the Green Citizens' Action Alliance, said that the alliance integrated limited environmental violation data, farmland mapping data, factory permits and tax registration data, and identified 266 factories on farmland that had been fined for violating environmental protection regulations, including medium- and high-pollution industries such as electroplating. Taking "Yongfu Enterprise Cooperative," which was caught last year by the environmental inspection brigade illegally discharging electroplating water, as an example, its heavy metal zinc exceeded the standard by 4 times and its pH value was 3.0, reaching an extremely acidic level, seriously harming surrounding farmland, and the fruits, vegetables and rice produced flowed to market with their whereabouts even more unknown.

Tseng believes that the government has already spent 70 million of taxpayers' money inventorying illegal factories, and if it does not disclose the inventory results, it is equivalent to "covering up the misdeeds" of illegal factories. If farmland illegality continues to be tolerated, creating a continued window of pollution, she demands that the government immediately disclose the results of the farmland factory inventory and let the public participate in oversight.