HANDS ON:Legislator Lin Shu-fen took matters in her own hands and did research in the affected area, taking samples that were found to contain high levels of copper
Taipei Times
Date: Jul 28, 2017
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) yesterday criticized the
Shenmai Pond in Taoyuan, which has fallen into disuse after being polluted by a nearby factory, is pictured on Wednesday. Photo: Hsieh Wu-hsiung, Taipei Times
Taoyuan City Government’s leniency in dealing with the pollution from processing firm Yu Hung Technology (宇鴻科技) in nearby farms, which cover 122 hectares downstream of the now-defunct Shenmai Pond (滲眉埤).
The Council of Agriculture on Wednesday rejected a report by Chinese-language Next Magazine that said rice is once again being grown on farmland that was once irrigated by the former pond, an area where farming is prohibited.
The area spans about 97 hectares and could have provided 20 tonnes of contaminated rice, the report said.
The council said that the farms cited by the magazine had not been irrigated with water from the former pond, but by water from a different source, adding that land on which farming is banned is checked every two months. [FULL STORY]