2012-05-16 Located in northwest Huwei Township adjacent to the proposed Yunlin Station of Taiwan High Speed Rail, Huwei Park of the Central Taiwan Science Park covers an area of 97 hectares and is strategically situated in the center between the Tainan and Taichung science parks. Huwei Park has been planned by the National Science Council as an important base linking the two science parks. The proposed industries for Huwei Park include photonics and biotech industries. Currently, five companies already launched their operations in the park.

In December 2011, Yunlin County’s Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) received a report of suspicious smoke coming from a factory’s chimneys in Huwei Park that had affected the growth of nearby crops. Some of the crops had withered. The EPB carried out ambient air quality pollution monitoring immediately and the results met all emission standards. To protect farmers’ rights, the county’s department of agriculture joined the Council of Agriculture (COA), the Tainan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station and the county’s EPB to conduct a site investigation again in late December. The Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute from the COA collected samples of several crops from farms south of the factory, including guava, garlic and sweet potato. The results of the analysis determined that the stunted plant growth was related to fluoride and that the abnormal levels of fluoride on the sampled leaves were inversely proportional to the distance from the factory’s chimneys. It was thus evident that the contamination was related to fluoride emissions from the factory located north of the farms.

In 2012, the EPB surveyed the fluoride content in the soils surrounding the factory again, and the results indicated that the fluoride content in some areas was apparently higher than the reference values for the fluoride content in soil.

The EPB has asked the factory to re-examine its air pollution control and prevention system and has assisted nearby farmers in claiming compensation. The EPB also invited the Central Taiwan Science Park Administration to convene a coordination meeting. It was decided at the meeting that the Park Administration would carry out an environmental monitoring scheme to continue monitoring and testing air quality, surface water quality and fluoride content in soil and vegetation in areas surrounding the park, so as to protect the environment and take action in a timely fashion as well as to protect farmers’ rights. The first air quality survey was already completed and the test results were all normal. If you have any concerns or if you want to report pollution, you may call the EPB’s hotline at (05) 5340414. To file a public nuisance complaint, you may call the EPA toll-free at 0800-066666.