pollution

Plastics Factory Fire a Major Pollution Incident: Smoke Visible from Space

diagram showing smoke spread
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

[Cover Picture: Instant Weather Facebook Group.] A fire at a plastics factory in Pingtung County has caused a major pollution incident with a black cloud drifting all the way to Kaohsiung City and Tainan City, and is said to be visible from space. The fire broke out at around 7:00am this morning, July 5, in a factory in Guangan village, Wandan Township, Pingtung County. Pingtung County Fire Bureau dispatched 20 fire appliances and 55 firefighters to battle the blaze. A

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EPB Acts on Pollution After Pictures Exposed on Social Media

River of raw manure in Pingtung County April 2, 2017
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

[Cover Picture: Facebook user 張仁吉] Pingtung County Environmental Protection Bureau will will levy fines on eight livestock farms, after tracing the source of raw manure that fouled-up a drainage channel in Wandan Township, Pingtung County. The Environmental Protection Bureau acted after pictures were posted on Facebook April 2. The original poster wrote in Chinese “when you’re angry, you tell people to eat shit! I will say: “Welcome to Pingtung!”” Facebook users responding to the post questioned whether the EPB was

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Power Plant Spews Soot over Neighboring Districts

hsieh ho power plant near keelung emits black smoke
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A technical problem at a power station this morning caused one of its three chimneys to emit a pall of thick, black smoke containing sooty ash, which fell on the surrounding district. At around 11:00am, residents around the Hsieh Ho Power Station in Keelung City noticed a thick black cloud of smoke coming out of one of the power station’s chimneys. Black soot rained on cars and blackened people’s clothing. A broadcast from the power station’s office warned residents to

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Nobel Laureate Calls for Taiwan Carbon Tax

Wind generators juxtapositioned with a coal-power station
Business and Economy 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Former President of Academia Sinica, and Nobel Laureate for his services to Chemistry, Yuan Tseh Lee, today urged the government of Taiwan to impose a carbon tax to deal with the country’s worsening air pollution. Speaking at the opening of an exhibition at the National Museum of Natural Science, Professor Lee said pollution should be converted into a price in order to achieve an ideal state of clean energy. Professor Lee drew attention to the costs of pollution in terms

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Litter Found in Stomachs of Dolphinfish

plastic litter found after being consumed by fish caught in Taiwan
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 2 Comments , ,

The manager of a fish-processing plant uploaded pictures to social media yesterday, after finding a a plastic ring, plastic straw, and other foreign objects in a fishes’ stomach. He hopes that the pictures will draw attention to the problem of environmental pollution. Chen Jun-jie has been working in the seafood industry for more than 20 years, and said that recently there have been more cases of discarded objects found in fish stomachs. Objects found recently include plastic straws, rubber bands,

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Major Housing Development Dumps Raw Sewage into Local Streams

A polluted waterway in New Taipei City
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

A meeting was held today after whistle-blowers revealed a residential housing development in Linkou are about to let residents move in to buildings which are not connected to a sewage system, and are currently polluting local streams with raw effluent. The A7 affordable housing buildings were constructed by the Far Glory group, and have already attracted controversy after executives were found to have paid bribes to get approval for the project. In December 2015, two senior executives and a deputy

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