Miaoli Organic Pumpkin Village Protests Landfill Pollution; 500 Hectares Nearby at Risk

General News Jan 1, 1970 0 views

Waste Landfill Pollution Crisis"500 Hectares Around Miaoli's Organic Pumpkin Village at Risk, Villagers Brave Cold to Camp Out in Protest

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A waste landfill is encroaching on Longsheng Village in Zaoqiao, Miaoli! This organic village, famous for its pumpkin festival and living a quiet life apart from the world, relies entirely on the irrigation reservoir of Mingde Reservoir for its good farmland. Yet now a huge pit has been dug nearby, about to bury over 8,000 metric tons of waste. Not only will the whole village suffer, but everything within 500 hectares around it will be contaminated.

The Kunyu industrial waste landfill case had originally died 16 years ago, when then-county magistrate Liu Cheng-hung rejected the application and revoked the license. Now it has made a comeback, and the Miaoli County Government actually approved the trial operation plan in just 10 days of review, without notifying the villagers. This triggered more than a hundred Longsheng Village residents to form a self-rescue association in protest, only to be countersued by Kunyu. Furious, they decided to camp out long-term at the landfill entrance, vowing to protect their homeland.

Undeterred by the waves of cold fronts, they said angrily, "This one case has plagued our village for nearly 20 years. This year we won't even get to enjoy the Lunar New Year properly."

Longsheng villagers gather at the entrance of the Kunyu landfill, protesting that waste is destroying their homeland. (Photo / Li Min-kai)

16 Years Ago It Obtained Development Consent Through Deception; Kunyu's License Was Revoked

Kunyu purchased over ten hectares of land at the landfill site back in Republic of China year 90 (2001), but to circumvent the regulations of that time requiring an environmental impact assessment for landfills over 2 hectares, it applied only for a 1.9-hectare burial plan. When it proposed trial operation in year 94 (2005), it had already buried two batches of waste. Because of the foul odor, residents realized something was terribly wrong and immediately gathered to protest.

Kunyu insisted it had obtained residents' consent before starting burial. It produced stamped consent forms, and only then did the villagers realize they had been deceived. It turned out that Kunyu had claimed a labor shortage and recruited dozens of villagers to help with development. By simply pulling a few survey lines and digging a few holes, they could earn several thousand yuan, and everyone flocked to join. They thought the stamp was for collecting wages, but what they stamped was actually a "development consent form."

The deceived and angry villagers filed a lawsuit in court, and on top of that, the newly appointed county magistrate Liu Cheng-hung believed the case would cause enormous damage to Miaoli, so he rejected the application several times in a row. The company refused to accept the rulings and petitioned the central government, but the Environmental Protection Administration's appeal committee overturned and rejected it. Liu Cheng-hung then used that decision as grounds to revoke Kunyu's license.

The Nightmare Repeats: County Government Approves in Just 10 Days, Villagers Protest and Are Sued

Sixteen years later, the villagers never expected that the Kunyu industrial waste landfill would actually restart its trial operation plan on December 21 of last year (2020). Without notifying any interested parties, the Miaoli County Government approved after only 10 days of review that Kunyu could process 8,223.7 metric tons of waste within 90 days from the date of the notice. If the trial operation passes environmental monitoring tests, it will obtain an operating license.

As soon as the news broke, public opinion was in an uproar. Longsheng Village residents and former county magistrate Liu Cheng-hung held a press conference to protest Kunyu's actions. Unexpectedly, Kunyu refused to communicate and filed lawsuits against five people who attended the press conference for alleged encroachment and coercion, seemingly using litigation as a tool of intimidation.

Liu Cheng-hung, who had faded from politics, continues to stand with Longsheng Village. "The situation is exactly the same, but the application was approved in ten days, leaving villagers unable to live in peace." Liu Cheng-hung said, "I'll say it bluntly: the decision Magistrate Hsu made is something that harms our children and grandchildren."

Liu Cheng-hung called on Hsu Yao-chang not to do things that harm children and grandchildren. (Photo / Li Min-kai)

Landfill Less Than One Kilometer from Farmland Irrigation Pond, Risks Contaminating Water Source and Farmland

At kilometer marker 106.5 on Provincial Highway 1, directly across from Datan Scenic Area, two simple tents and two 20-foot shipping containers make up the base of the "Anti-Kunyu Industrial Waste Landfill Self-Rescue Association," which is also the entrance to the Kunyu landfill. Over a hundred members of the self-rescue association cook and eat here. Yesterday (the 21st) was the 16th day.

Three shifts a day, standing guard 24 hours, all for their own homeland.

The three women on the middle shift last night (16:00 to 24:00) all rushed to the site right after getting off work. They cooked a pot of instant noodles on a simple portable gas stove to fill everyone's stomachs. Although the temperature had warmed up that day, the cold was still piercing after nightfall. It was hard to imagine how they endured the winter nights when temperatures dropped to single digits not long ago.

Under the tent, three elderly men whose ages add up to over 200 sat around a fire pit to keep warm, with a few sweet potatoes on the stove, a specialty of Longsheng Village. This organic village, which produces sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and gourds, relies on Datan to irrigate its good farmland. Datan is the irrigation reservoir of Mingde Reservoir. Nearby, 500 jia of good farmland, including the special agricultural zone in Wanbao, all depend on Datan for irrigation. The problem is that Kunyu's landfill is not only situated at the highest point of Longsheng Village, which will affect groundwater quality, but is also less than one kilometer from Datan. No wonder residents brave the cold to protect their homeland together.

Longsheng Village residents brave the cold, vowing to protect their homeland to the death. (Photo / Yang Yu-yun)

The Landfill Has Plagued Longsheng Village for Over a Decade; This Year They Can't Enjoy the New Year

Self-rescue association volunteer Chen Po-hsien is a young man who returned to his hometown. He helps with his family's farming while working at the Miaoli County Fu-li Community Incubation Center. He said that when the Kunyu case was being protested over a decade ago, his father stood on the front line of the protest. He never imagined that after so many years, he would have to pick up the baton and keep going.

"When the trial operation was approved, we weren't given a copy of the official document, and no one informed us. If not for a county councilor friendly to us telling us, we would still be kept in the dark." Chen Po-hsien questioned that they were clearly important stakeholders, yet received no respect at all. "This one case has plagued our village for nearly 20 years. This year we won't even get to enjoy the Lunar New Year properly. The pace of life for our entire village has been disrupted."

Kunyu Sues on One Hand and Tries to Buy People Off on the Other? Yet Completely Refuses to Communicate

Five people were sued by Kunyu for alleged encroachment and coercion over the January 5 press conference. On January 12, when Kunyu tried to bring machinery onto the site, several villagers who blocked it were also sued. Township representative Ku Yu-chih went to the police station to give a statement yesterday afternoon, then immediately returned to the self-rescue association base. He said Kunyu's goal is to make villagers retreat in the face of difficulty, adding, "As long as we keep resisting, they'll keep us running to court endlessly." After Ku Yu-chih spoke, another self-rescue association member added, "I heard Kunyu has seven lawyers, so they can afford to play this game."

Carrot and stick together: Self-rescue association chairman Chen Ching-hsin pointed out that there are rumors Kunyu wants to provide compensation money to residents. "We will absolutely not accept this kind of tactic to buy off villagers." From the land purchase in year 90 (2001) to now, 20 years later, Kunyu has never once communicated with the public. Chen Ching-hsin questioned: if everything is legal, why use these tactics?

Villagers work together to block excavators from entering the landfill. (Provided by Chen Po-hsien)

Reporter's On-Site Observation: Landfill Equipment Is Rudimentary, Land Category Change Procedure Is Suspicious

The county government's document approving the trial operation states that the types of waste include waste plastic, construction waste, sludge, slag and furnace stone, and scrap metal. Even though Kunyu declared all of it to be non-toxic waste, Longsheng villagers question: if it were just ordinary waste, wouldn't it be enough to bury and dispose of it on-site? Is it really necessary to transport it all the way from Pingtung and Kaohsiung to Miaoli?

Longsheng Village chief Chen Wu Man-yu said that the road from the entrance to the burial area is actually private land, but if it were counted as part of Kunyu's site, the development area would exceed 2 hectares and would require an environmental impact assessment. For this reason, Kunyu can only insist that it is an "existing road," and therefore cannot stop villagers from entering. In fact, they even posted a sign at the entrance stating: "Villagers are welcome to supervise."

However, when a reporter from News&Market wanted to enter, Kunyu required that a manager surnamed Shen accompany them, citing "valuable machinery inside." After walking only about two hundred meters, they came upon a huge pit blocked by an iron chain with a sign reading "No Trespassing." Crossing the chain, the pit appeared to be about the size of four or five basketball courts and two to three stories deep. Only waterproof tarps had been laid around it, with no sewage treatment pipes at all. Yet all around was natural forested mountain. Chen Chi-chung, secretary-general of the self-rescue association, said the land category here was originally agricultural and forestry land, but it had already been changed to special-purpose business land.

Facing this extremely rudimentary landfill, the reporter asked Manager Shen whether any treatment would be done after waste is dumped in the future, and when the land category was changed. But he only said: no comment to the public.