Taipei Times
Jun 12, 2019 – Page 1　
By Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

 

Representatives of nearly 8,000 Vietnamese who claim to have suffered from marine pollution caused by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp

hold a news conference in Taipei yesterday after they filed a lawsuit against the company’s investors.

Almost 8,000 Vietnamese saying they have suffered from marine pollution caused by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp (台塑河靜鋼鐵興業) yesterday filed a lawsuit in Taipei against the company’s investors, seeking NT$140 million (US$4.4 million) in compensation.

A spill of toxic chemicals from the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) unit’s under-construction steel plant in April 2016 caused mass fish deaths in waters off central Vietnam.

After a Vietnamese government report confirmed Formosa Ha Tinh’s accountability, the company in June of that year agreed to pay US$500 million in compensation for discharging water containing chemicals such as phenol, cyanide and iron hydroxides.

A coalition of Taiwanese and Vietnamese groups yesterday morning helped file the lawsuit at the Taipei District Court on behalf of 7,875 Vietnamese plaintiffs against the company’s main investors — FPG, China Steel Corp (中鋼) and Japan’s JFE Steel Corp — as they said many victims have not received compensation.
[FULL  STORY]