Taiwan Leads Asia in Contaminated Site Remediation.

Being the first Asian country to implement the Soil and Groundwater Remediation Act, Taiwan has held the leading position in Asia with many investigations and remediation techniques accumulated since the act was promulgated in February 2000, said Hong-de Tsai, executive secretary of Soil and Groundwater Remediation Fund Management Board under the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) (see also Environmental Protection Administration, Taiwan).

Tsai noted in an interview that because Taiwan is small and densely populated, it must have active planning of land use and effectively repair, restore and reuse contaminated land. But since the private sector is not very interested in doing so, increased economic incentives may accelerate the progress of contaminated site remediation.

The EPA has listed the disbanded Taiwan Metal Company in Taipei County and Dapingding at the junction of Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County as the first remediation targets at present. Taiwan Metal Company had mined for gold and smelt it for years and caused arsenic contamination, which posed cancer risk to people who had inhaled, ate or touched it for some time. Since the entire mountain had been contaminated, the area cannot be redeveloped until health risk assessment is completed after it was announced as a soil pollution remediation site. If everything goes smoothly, the area can be redeveloped starting in the second half of 2011, said Tsai.

Located in Northeast and Ilan Coast National Scenic Area and not far away from the renowned Gold Ecological Park, the old Taiwan Metal Company site will have great tourism value when redeveloped after remediation, said Tsai. Since the disbanded Taiwan Metal Company has been merged by Taiwan Sugar Corporation and the land of the contaminated site belongs to Taiwan Power Company, State-owned Enterprise Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs will take charge of its integration.

Tsai added that the Dapingding Specific Urban Planning Area at the junction of Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County has become a 7-story high garbage mountain after unscrupulous manufacturers illegally dumping construction waste, slag, furnace dust and other wastes on the site for many years, polluting the wide area with dioxin and heavy metals.

Because of its geographical conditions, Tsai said the Dapingding area can be developed into a production center with solar energy and PV module manufacturers supplying electricity to the local community at a low rate as a return favor. And he expressed the hope that the successful reactivation of Dapingding and the Taiwan Metal Company site after remediation will encourage the private sector to actively participate in contaminated site remediation.

Both Olympic Parks in London and Sydney are built on a site which had been heavily polluted by waste and heavy metals for years but was successfully redeveloped with beautiful landscaping after remediation, and the US government has also redeveloped contaminated sites after remediation in close cooperation with the private sector, noted Tsai.

The EPA sponsored recently the 2010 International Seminar on Contaminated Soil and Groundwater Site Investigation, Remediation and Management to discuss such issues as farmland pollution, brownfields, health risk assessment, sustainable management of sediment and advanced remediation techniques, and share Taiwan's experiences with other countries.

With many contaminated site investigations and remediation techniques accumulated by the EPA, Taiwan now leads Asia in this field and plans to establish an Internet system in the future to serve as the platform for domestic technique patents and exchanges with mainland China and the international community, aside from sponsoring environment exhibitions, international seminars and roundtable forums.

Keywords: Agricultural, Agriculture, Asia, China, Conservation, Ecological, Ecology, Environmental Protection, Environmental Protection Administration, Environmental Protection Administration, Taiwan, Farmland, Internet Systems, Taiwan, Tourism, Travel, Urban Planning, World Wide Web.

This article was prepared by Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2011, Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week via NewsRx.com.