Two dejected farmers whose contaminated rice crops have just been removed from the paddies yesterday say they are worried about the loss of income this fall. CNA

TAIPEI: Amid successive reports of soil contamination from slag deposits in southern Taiwan, an official said yesterday that the law governing waste recycling will be revised to prevent slag and fly ash from coming directly in contact with soil used for agricultural purposes.

"The present law truly has loopholes in the use of slag and fly ash from metal factories, and we will conduct an overall review and draft necessary amendments to prevent the recurrence of soil contamination," said Tu Tzu-chun, director-general of the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) under the economic affairs authorities.

Tu made the promise while fielding questions at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Social Welfare and Environment Hygiene Committee, which was convened to review the illegal dumping of industrial waste and the dioxin contamination of duck farms in Daliao, Kaohsiung County and contamination from a carbide slag plant in Cijin, Kaohsiung City.

Speaking on the same occasion, Chang Tzu-ching, deputy minister of the Environmental Protection Commission, said the disposal of slag and fly ash, which are generally waste byproducts of the metal melting process and can be recycled and used as partial substitutes for cement, should be closely monitored and restricted to avoid soil contamination.

"We hope that the IDB will act promptly to plug loopholes and bar the use of steel and carbide slag in fields when it comes in direct contact with the soil," Chang said.

He also told lawmakers that the EPA has directed environmental protection bureaus in cities and counties around the country to investigate whether there are any new soil contamination cases or new illegal dumps of industrial waste in their administrative districts.

"The probe should be completed in two weeks," Chang said, adding that local environmental bureaus should also complete checks within a month on whether the 100-plus illegal industrial waste dumps that have been brought under control may have had any impact on agricultural or husbandry sectors.

In the past, Chang said, local governments may have overlooked slag and fly ash dumping or recycling operations.

"From now on, grassroots environmental protection agencies will be required to report to the EPA any traces of suspected slag-related contamination in order to make timely responses," Chang said.

Last Thursday, nearly 10,000 ducks in Daliao were culled after being contaminated with dioxin from slag dumped near the duck farm.

Yesterday, the EPA said 1,280 kilograms of chromium-contaminated rice from Tainan County's Houbi township were dumped and will be burned Friday.

An initial investigation showed that the contamination was caused by slag from a recycling plant that was washed into the vicinity of the rice paddies by recent flooding during Typhoon Morakot.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 11/17/2009 page2)