Disaster Prevention: No Slogans Please. Just Pass the Geology Act

Disaster Prevention: No Slogans Please. Just Pass the Geology Act
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
April 30, 2010

A few days ago, a landslide occurred on National Highway Number 3, near Keelung Road. An entire section of mountain near Cidu Road suddenly gave way, blocking traffic in both directions. Nearly twenty million tonnes of earth and rock slid down the side of the mountain. The situation was truly shocking. This was the first time a landslide stopped traffic on the National Highway System. So far three cars and four bodies have been discovered. The emergency response phase is over. What follows will be recovery, restoration, and a search for accountability. The landslide was not preceded by days of heavy rain. The landslide was not preceded by an earthquake. That is why even President Ma Ying-jeou, who visited the disaster site, said it left him with a "creepy feeling."
According to reports, Transport Minister Mao Chi-kuo initially speculated that substrata slippage caused the the disaster. According to geological experts, a dip slope was probably to blame. The road was located on a dip slope. The substrata consisted of relatively soft sandstone and shale. Years of erosion, plus days of rainwater infiltration, led to slippage and the landslide. The Highway Department, after several days of investigation, determined that National Highway Number 3, going north to south, has a total of 32 locations where this type of dip slope occurs. The sections range from 59 meters to nine kilometers in length. The longer dip slopes are located in the southern section. The northern section has 19 dip slopes. The central section has five dip slopes. In other words, the same disaster could happen again at any time.

National Highway Number 3 has dip slopes. Hillside residences on dip slopes also merit attention. In 1997, the Lincoln Mansions condominium in Xizhi collapsed. Government agencies placed 340 residences located on dip slopes in the Greater Taipei area on their watchlist. But because the Geology Act failed to pass, this information has yet to be released. It is our understanding that the Geology Act has been in the channel since 1996. The Legislative Yuan completed a third reading in 2004. But special interest groups exerted pressure. Forty or so legislators forced reconsideration of the proposal, and eventually killed it. The Executive Yuan has formally submitted a draft bill to the legislature for consideration.

A government is duty bound to provide information about environmental safety. Yesterday we had the Lincoln Mansions disaster. Today we have National Highway Number 3 disaster. Both the executive and the legislature must say no to special interest groups. They must pass the Geology Act, as soon as possible. They must ensure full disclosure of geological information, and expand the range of remedies.

Taiwan is located in an active seismic zone. Typhoons and floods occur almost every year. Helping the public avoid geologically sensitive and vulnerable areas should be the government's number one priority. Unfortunately disaster prevention maps and data are grossly inadequate. Providing information about faultlines, dip slopes, and other relevant information has not been a high priority. The disaster maps completed in recent years are almost all small scale maps at 1:30,000 or 1:50,000 scale. By contrast, urban planning maps or urban land maps are large scale maps at 1:1000 or 1:5000 scale. The two simply do not compare. When even the most basic maps are unavailable, how can we talk about disaster prevention?

Disaster prevention must not be all talk and no action. It must solicit the views of professionals. Domestic disaster prevention is a case of "five minutes of enthusiasm." Once the emergency has passed, it is as if nothing had ever happened. In the past, with public works or other construction, people worried only about the construction phase. When it came to environmental studies, geological surveys, and land planning, they merely went through the motions. That nothing untoward happened with most of these projects is a miracle. If the agencies in charge refuse to make systemic changes, and appreciate the importance of planning, surveys, and design, if they pay attention only to the construction phase, then more landslides will occur, one after the other.

The government's top priority should be to make full use of existing professional talent and technical equipment, to create an integrated national land monitoring body. This body will provide basic information on the island's 36,000 square kilometers of land. Changes in topography, geology, ecology, hydrology, and vegetation will be made available to everyone. This data will help government agencies make disaster preparedness decisions. It will enable the public to avoid dangerous sites, or to make disaster prevention and mitigation plans in advance, minimizing the extent of the disaster. Therefore, we call for an integrated 10 year plan for national land monitoring. We call for the creation of large scale 1:1000 or 1:5000 maps, complete with landslide, flooding, earthquake faultline, and dip slope information. These will enable people to identify which sites are environmentally fragile and sensitive, and enable them to keep their distance.

Every day tens of thousands of people drive on the national highways. They are required to pay tolls for these roads. They have the right to expect that these roads are safe. If in the future people who use the national highways also have a "creepy feeling," and are forced to worry about landslides, then a hundred apologies from the government will be meaningless.

中時電子報 新聞
中國時報 　2010.04.30
防災別光喊口號 《地質法》快立法
本報訊

國道三號近基隆路段日前傳出山崩意外，靠近七堵路段整片山壁突然崩落，造成雙向車道封閉，近廿萬公噸土石瞬間滑下，走山情況令人怵目驚心。這也是高速公路史上第一次因山崩斷橋封路。目前已尋獲三車與四具遺體，初步救災已經告一段落，接下來展開的將是一連串善後復原與責任追究。由於事件現場既沒有連日豪雨，造成土石崩落情況，事前也沒有任何地震，因此連前往現場勘災的馬英九總統都直說心裡毛毛的。

據報載，交通部長毛治國初步推測可能是地層滑動肇禍。而根據地質專家現場研判，很可能是順向坡惹的禍，因為該路段屬於順向坡地質，地質上屬於比較鬆軟的砂頁岩，長年風化，加上連日的雨水滲透地表，帶動山坡滑動，因而造成這次走山。而高公局經過幾天的調查也發現，國道三號這類型順向坡情形從北至南共有卅二處，長度從五十公尺至九公里都有，較長的順向坡多集中在南部，北部路段順向坡也有十九處，中部路段有五處。換言之，同樣的情形不是不會重演。

除了國道三號順向坡外，山坡地住宅安全是否位於順向坡也連帶受到關注。民國八十六年，汐止「林肯大郡」倒塌後，相關單位將大台北地區三百四十處位於順向坡的山坡住宅列管，但就是礙於《地質法》沒有通過，這項資訊迄今未能公布。而據了解，這部《地質法》從民國八十五年就開始推動，民國九十三年立法院還完成三讀程序，但由於受到利益團體杯葛，還是被四十位立法委員提出覆議，硬是被拉下來，未完成法案立法工作，而目前行政院已經將該法案草案正式送交立法院審議。

提供一個安全的環境資訊是政府責無旁貸的事，從過去林肯大郡到現在的國道三號走山事件，不管是行政或是立法部門，都應該排除各種相關利益團體的干擾，在最短時間內完成《地質法》立法工作，讓不安全的地質資訊充分揭露，進而展開相關補救措施。

台灣位處地震頻繁區域，風災水害也幾乎每年都會，如何讓國人盡量避免前往地質敏感與脆弱地區，就成為防災最重要工作。遺憾的是，台灣的防災地圖基本資料相當貧乏，包括斷層帶、順向坡等相關資料建置工作，並未受到重視，迄今所完成的防災地圖，幾乎都只是三、五十萬分之一，或是幾萬分之一的小比例尺地圖，和目前實際都市計畫或非都市土地地圖一千分之一或五千分之一大比例尺地圖相比較，根本無法套用，連最基本可用地圖都沒有，遑論防災了。

防災更不是光靠嘴巴說了就算了，必須尊重專業，反觀國內防災都五分鐘熱度，等災害過了，什麼事情就好像沒有發生一樣。過去無論在公共工程或是其它建築上，大家只重視工程施工，各項環境地質調查與規畫幾乎都虛應故事，這樣的工程，不出事只憑運氣，如果相關單位不再從制度面改變，重視規畫、調查與設計，只強調施工，類似的走山事件亦將層出不窮。

政府當務之急要做的是，好好地利用現有的各項專業人力，以及周全的科技儀器，整合建立一個國土監測單位，讓三萬六千平方公里寶島土地上的各種基本空間資訊，包括地形、地貌、地質、生態、水文、植生等各項變化，都能在日常生活的環境中受到確實的掌控。因為這些資料的建立與分析，不僅可以提供政府單位進行防災決策的參考，更可以讓民眾，可以選擇不危險的地方，或事前做好避災以及減災的工作，使災害減少至最低的程度。因此，我們呼籲，立即推動十年國土整合監測系統計畫，建立一千分之一或五千分之一大比例尺寸土石流、淹水、地震斷層、順向坡等災害地圖並公告，讓民眾知道那些地方是環境脆弱敏感地區而能趨吉避凶。

要知道，每天有數以萬計的民眾會開上國道，他們該繳的過路費一塊都不會少繳，「安全上路」是他們最起碼的權益，如果民眾今後上了國道還感到會「毛毛的」，冷不防那個路段又來個走山，政府再道一百次歉都是沒用的！