Million Tons of Slag on Qishan Farmland: 4 Million Tons of Waste Excavated, No Oversight of Removal and Transport
A 5.2-hectare plot of farmland in Dalin Village, Qishan District, Kaohsiung City, was illegally dumped with a million tons of slag (converter stone) starting in May 2013. Seven years later, the Kaohsiung City Environmental Protection Bureau finally held a briefing in March of this year (2020), at which one of the original burying operators, Wanda Material Technology Company, promised to complete the removal and transport of the million tons of converter stone within three years.
But no one could have imagined that this farmland, once digging began, would grow more horrifying the deeper it went. In a briefing to the Kaohsiung City Council's Police, Fire, Health and Environment Committee today (September 15), Wanda Company stated that the originally planned removal volume was 1 million tons, but after actual excavation and investigation, the total volume was found to be as high as 4 million tons. In addition to converter stone, there was also a large amount of construction waste and unidentified waste.
Concerned Individuals Enter the Pollution Site in Depth for the First Time; Only Just Over a Thousand Tons Removed in Three Months
The Kaohsiung City Council's Police, Fire, Health and Environment Committee made a large-scale inspection trip to Qishan today, specifically visiting the farmland in Dalin Village where nearly a million tons of slag had been illegally buried. Present at the scene were city councilors, assistants, Environmental Protection Bureau personnel, Agriculture Bureau personnel, local police, media, residents and civil society organizations. More than fifty people stood under the blazing sun, and the scorching autumn heat left everyone hot and irritable.
This victimized farmland in Dalin has had a bitter fate. In 1996, it was first subjected to illegal sand and gravel mining, leaving a deep pit with an area of 5.2 hectares and a depth of more than 20 meters; then in May 2013, large amounts of waste began to be dumped into it. Zheng Miaozhen, chairwoman of the Dalin Village Self-Rescue Association Against Waste Slag, stated that between May 2013 and June 2014, these deep pits were backfilled with nearly 1 million tons of converter stone purchased from China United Resources and produced during the steelmaking process of China Steel Corporation, by the landowner, Huang Yinling, who is also the head of Jianfa Construction, and Dai Wenqing, head of Wanda Material Technology.
On March 26, 2020, the Kaohsiung City Environmental Protection Bureau and Wanda Company jointly held a briefing and publicly promised to complete the entire converter stone removal and transport plan within three years; on May 22, the Environmental Protection Bureau approved the removal and transport plan submitted by Wanda Company. Lin Canming, section chief of the Waste Management Section, stated that the cleanup schedule was 100,000 tons in the first year, 200,000 tons in the second year, and 700,000 tons in the third year. This also meant that before May 21 of next year (2021), Wanda Company had to complete the removal of 100,000 tons of converter stone.
Lin Canming emphasized that three months had already passed since the approval date, and based on the schedule allocation in the cleanup plan, the operator should have removed and transported at least 20,000 tons by now to meet the schedule, but Wanda Company had so far removed only just over a thousand tons.
Buried Deep Underground Out of Sight; Excavation Reveals Total Waste Volume as High as 4 Million Tons
Wanda Company project manager Lin Liqi explained that indeed only 1,046 tons had been removed and transported so far, and the main reason for the delayed progress was the long summer rainy season. When excavation encountered rain, the pit slopes were prone to collapse, ground operations were very difficult, and both personnel and machinery were at risk. In addition, after the converter stone was dug out, where should it go? Lin Liqi emphasized that there was still no solution for disposal or storage sites, and she hoped the Environmental Protection Bureau could assist.
Environmental Protection Bureau Director Zhang Ruihui responded immediately to Lin Liqi on site, "Whoever handed the converter stone to Wanda at the time, go find them right away. This is not the time to ask the Environmental Protection Bureau for help." Lin Canming then added, "At the time, the source (of the converter stone) was China United (Resources), so your Wanda Company needs to go find China United (Resources). Whoever gave it to you, you need to go find them."
In addition, Lin Liqi also aired her grievances. She stated that during investigation and excavation, it was found that the deepest point reached 26 meters, and if the volume were calculated at 26 meters, there were a total of 4 million tons of waste underground. She emphasized, "Our converter stone is 990,000 tons, but what was dug out included construction waste and some unknown waste. This is the rather difficult problem we have encountered."
The removal and transport plan only stated 1 million tons of converter stone, but the operator now said the total waste volume was as high as 4 million tons. As for what the 3 million tons of waste included and how severe the pollution level would be, the Environmental Protection Bureau gave no response.
No Oversight Mechanism in the Removal and Transport Plan; Environmental Protection Bureau Evades and Gives No Response
The slag problem was becoming more and more thorny. The unexcavated parts were like unexploded bombs, and the excavated parts were like hot potatoes. What made Kaohsiung residents even more uneasy was that there was no oversight mechanism at all in the implementation process of the removal and transport plan.
Wang Jiqiang, specialist at the Zunhuai Culture and Education Foundation, stated that the removal and transport plan clearly wrote that the operator should use XRF (X-ray fluorescence analysis) at the excavation site to test whether the excavated waste was slag, but from the start of excavation until now, Wanda Company and the Environmental Protection Bureau had not conducted any XRF testing at all. Exactly which of the currently excavated wastes were slag? Which were construction waste? And what were the other unidentified wastes? Both the Environmental Protection Bureau and the operator needed to explain clearly.
Although the Dalin Village Self-Rescue Association Against Waste Slag did not participate in today's site inspection, its chairwoman Zheng Miaozhen said in an interview that the slag at Dalin Section 512 was used by the operator at the time to pave the connecting road and was also the area the operator first excavated. This area had not yet been cleaned up, and Wanda Company had again shifted to excavating the main backfill area. This approach was very worrying. She also called on the Environmental Protection Bureau to establish an oversight mechanism as soon as possible and assign dedicated personnel or a working group to supervise the operator's removal and transport process. "Please, Environmental Protection Bureau, do not just supervise based on the reports submitted by Wanda or China United (Resources)!"
Kaohsiung City Council Deputy Speaker Lu Shumei stated that when Wanda Company originally transported the converter stone to the farmland for burial, its mindset was clearly wrong, and she hoped the Environmental Protection Bureau would have a proper set of measures to handle the follow-up. Independent city councilor Zhu Xinqiang believed that the government ethics unit must be asked to conduct an investigation, trace the relevant administrative responsibilities, and clarify who at the time allowed China United (Resources) to bury slag here.
As for how to strengthen the oversight mechanism, Environmental Protection Bureau Director Zhang Ruihui was unwilling to respond specifically, saying only, "Can we respond in writing?" "We will handle it in accordance with the law." "We will supervise regularly."
However, the Environmental Protection Bureau once again warned the operator today that if the cleanup did not meet the schedule, the Environmental Protection Bureau would revoke the cleanup plan and require the three cleanup obligors, China United Resources, Wanda Company and Jianfa Construction, to pay NT$8.9 billion in performance fees. After receiving the performance fees, the Environmental Protection Bureau would carry out the cleanup on their behalf.