The Eighth Naphtha Cracking Plant Controversy -- from the Perspective of the Sixth Naphtha Cracking Plant Controversy

The Eighth Naphtha Cracking Plant Controversy --from the Perspective of the Sixth Naphtha Cracking Plant Controversy
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
July 27, 2010

Last week the Ministry of the Interior held its first conference for the protection of dolphins -- the "Cho-shui Creek Tidal Flats Charitable Trust." The atmosphere during the conference was unexpectedly tranquil and reasonable. It was the calm before the storm. The Ministry of the Interior and other agencies adopted a neutral stance, in strict accordance with the law. The agency responsible is willing to prepare the required legal documents in advance, then submit the case for approval. This was the second time in 20 days that controversy over the Sixth Naphtha Cracking Plant flared up. Uncertainties over worker safety have diminished production capacity by nearly one half. This has made a balance between development and conservation even more urgent.

Environmentalists say that the Kuo Kuang Petrochemical Technology Company's Eighth Naphtha Cracking Plant is endangering Chinese White Dolphins. On the same day, company representatives, accompanied by Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-in and Industrial Development Bureau Chief Tu Chi-jun, held a press conference. They make it abundantly clear that if the project was still bogged down by environmental hurdles in November, they would "call it quits." For company representatives to adopt such an attitude is perfectly understandable. But when officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs endorse such a stance and cast doubt on their own neutrality, it is hardly helpful to arriving at a rational solution.

Should the mudflats on the north shore of the Cho-shui Creek in Changhua County's Ta Chen Village be turned into an industrial zone? That is of course a national land use issue. But it also involves Chinese White Dolphins, which are threatened with extinction, and the question, "Whither Taiwan?" This makes it more than just a fight between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Kuo Kuang Petrochemical on one side, with 40,000 supporters of the Environmental Trust Foundation on the other side. This makes it a question about where 23 million people ought to be headed.

Clearly the most important issue for the public is how to balance economic development with environmental protection, i.e., how to ensure sustainable development. Controversies have erupted over Phase Three of the Central Taiwan Science Park Environmental Impact Report, the use of land belonging to the Number 202 Munitions Plant in Nangang as a biotech park, and the invoking of eminent domain in order to acquire agricultural lands in Miaoli Tai Po. In each of these cases, some members of the public have taken exception to the government's policy of sacrificing the environment for the sake of economic productivity. They have lodged protests, demanding that the government address their concerns.

Taiwan has enjoyed sixty years of economic growth, in part at the expense of the environment. We began by cutting down forests and exporting the lumber. Later the Kaohsiung Harbor ship-breaking industry, the acid treatment of heavy metal waste, electroplating, dyeing, cement manufacturing, petrochemical, and other highly polluting, energy-intensive industries have exacted a heavy price on the environment and on peoples' health. The petrochemical and other environmentally harmful industries have contributed to our economic prosperity. For that we must be grateful. But the question 23 million people on Taiwan ought to be asking is, should we continue sacrificing the environment for the sake of economic prosperity today.

Over the past 60 years pro-development forces have called the shots. But they are not an unassailable monolith. They too must change their thinking, in step with the public on Taiwan. That is progress. That is reason. Ship-breaking and the acid treatment of heavy metal waste have been outsourced. Kaohsiung's cement industry has been shutdown. Projects such as the Liwu Creek Power Plant, Zonta Cement Plant, and the Yuli Yushan section of the New Central Cross-Island Highway have been put on hold. This shows that government agencies understand the public's priorities, and is honoring the public's wishes.

Consider the clash between developers who want to proceed with the Kuo Kuang Petrochemical Plant Project and environmentalists who want to protect Chinese White Dolphins. In their fight over how the Cho-shui Creek mudflats ought to be used, they must convince not just the government and shareholders, but 23 million members of the public. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Kuo Kuang Petrochemical argue that the petrochemical industry may be a energy hungry, highly polluting industry, it is nevertheless essential to our economy. There really is no alternative to constructing the plant on Chinese White Dolphin habitat. The Kuo Kuang Petrochemical Plant Project may not be a low impact, new era technology such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, or information and communications technology. But it will generate 500 billion in profits each year.

Environmentalists whose priority is the protection of the Chinese White Dolphin, must convince the public that the protection of endangered species is the mark of a civilized nation. The mudflats are Chinese White Dolphin habitat essential to their feeding and reproduction. If the land is reclaimed, the Chinese White Dolphins face extinction. The Chinese White Dolphins migrate from the west coast across the "Black Water Ditch" (Taiwan Strait). They travel through the Yun Chang uplift, the Kuanyin depression, and other formations in the Taiwan Strait. Their migratory path is affected by the Kuroshio Current and ocean currents along the Mainland coast. One cannot train them to change paths. One cannot use bait to induce them to live in regions outside the area earmarked for development.

What kind of Taiwan do we want? An environmently friendly Taiwan? Or one that trades its environment for wealth? A public consensus outweighs any consensus reached by a handful of economic experts, capitalists, and industry experts. A public consensus must be respected. This is a society in which the people are the boss.

This case may be seen as the first step in a rational policy debate. Whether the "Environmental Charitable Trust" bill will be passed is still unknown. But the forward-looking ideas in the proposed Environmental Charitable Trust will enable the public to consider the relative importance of Chinese White Dolphins and the petrochemical industry, as it proceeds down the road toward a sustainable future.

從六輕大火看八輕爭議
【聯合報╱社論】
2010.07.27 01:29 am

在山雨欲來的會議氣氛下，內政部上周首次召開為守護白海豚發起的「濁水溪海埔地公益信託」第一次審查會議，會議過程出乎意外地理性、和諧，內政部等相關單位站穩行政中立及依法辦事立場，信託送件單位也願意先完備法律要件，再逐步推動環境信託成案。這在六輕二十天內第二起大火，工安的不確定重創近半產能的此刻，益增尋求開發與保育新平衡點的迫切。

同一天，遭質疑危害到白海豚族群存續的開發案業主國光石化（八輕），在經濟部長施顏祥、工業局長杜紫軍陪同下召開記者會，表明十一月若環評還不過就「不玩了」的強硬態度。業者這麼說無可厚非，但經濟部官員一旦背書，立遭行政不中立的質疑，且無助於問題的理性解決。

毫無疑問，濁水溪北岸、彰化大城鄉沿岸泥質灘地應否填海造陸開發為工業區，性質是國土利用問題；但牽涉到瀕臨絕滅的中華白海豚，則進階到「我們要怎麼樣的台灣」的思辯訴求。這就絕非經濟部、國光石化聯手對抗環境信託四萬多認股人的問題，而是全台二千三百萬人應共同討論台灣該往何處去的問題。

尋求開發與保育的新平衡點，找出台灣永續發展的路，顯然已是全台民眾當前最重要的課題。從近期接續發生的中科三期環評爭議、南港202兵工廠綠地應否開發為生技園區，以至於仍待善後的苗栗大埔徵收農地事件，性質都是民眾不認同政府犧牲生態永續以換取經濟生產的強硬施政作為，進而以抗爭行動來喚起政府正視問題。

無可否認，這六十年台灣的經濟起飛，確實有許多是犧牲環境換來的。從最早期的砍伐森林外銷，之後高雄港的拆船業、酸洗廢五金、電鍍、染整、水泥、石化等高汙染、高耗能工業，讓台灣的土地與人民都受傷累累，付出了可觀的代價。沒錯，台灣確實靠石化等環境負擔較大的產業累積出夠強的經濟實力，這是要感激的；但這些犧牲環境換取經濟動力的舉措，此刻還要這樣走下去嗎？這是兩千三百萬台灣民眾應當思考的。

回顧這六十年台灣的成長軌跡，開發派雖然是常勝軍，但卻不是碰不得的鐵板一塊，也會隨著民眾對台灣該往何處去的思考，屢屢做出調整，這是進步與理性的展現。例如拆船、酸洗廢五金業一一移出境外，高雄水泥業停工等；一些開發計畫如立霧溪電廠、崇德水泥廠、新中橫公路玉里玉山段等的喊停，都顯示開發單位瞭解民眾對台灣該往何處去有了進階想法後，順應民意做出調整。

回頭檢視國光石化開發案與中華白海豚保育在濁水溪出海口泥灘地國土利用優先性的較勁，任一方要說服的不僅是政府及股東們，更要兩千三百萬民眾支持。經濟部及國光石化要回答民眾的是：石化業雖然高耗能、高汙染，但對現階段台灣經濟仍有其必要；設廠選擇白海豚棲息、覓食的唯一空間為基地，確實無替代方案；國光石化每年五千億產值現階段不是奈米、生技、資通等無害環境的新世紀產業能創造的……。

認為中華白海豚存活優先於發展石化業的一方，則要告訴乃至說服民眾，何以保護瀕危物種存續是國家文明的關鍵指標；工業區預定地的泥質灘地對白海豚棲息、覓食、繁殖的重要，一經填海造陸，可能讓白海豚面臨絕滅；白海豚在西海岸洄游有黑水溝、雲彰隆起、觀音凹陷等海峽地貌因素，以及黑潮支流、大陸沿岸流等海流因素，不是訓練轉彎或放誘餌導引到工業區基地以外海域就能存活。

我們要一個什麼樣的台灣？友善的環境，還是典當環境換財富？人民的共識，比重絕對超過少數經濟官員、產業專家及資本家的想法，應受到絕對的尊重，這是個人民作主的社會，人民才是頭家。

本案發展至今算是跨出理性討論的第一步，「環境公益信託」是否成案猶未可知，但提出「環境信託」前瞻性想法，讓國人在白海豚存亡以及石化產業對台灣影響的衝突面深刻思考，找出台灣永續之路，無疑是極有意義的。