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KAOHSIUNG DISASTER: New city pipeline routes urged
TOUGH STANCE: Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu said that pipeline restrictions could cost the city economically, but residents’ lives had to be taken into account
By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter, with CNA
Military personnel and firefighters yesterday continue to search through dirt and rubble for the remains of two firefighters missing after the gas pipeline explosions in Greater Kaohsiung on Thursday night last week.
Photo: CNA
Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) yesterday urged the Greater Kaohsiung government to offer new routes for petrochemical pipelines after Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said pipelines will not be placed under roads ruptured by last week’s gas pipeline explosions.
Without pipelines, petrochemical plant operators might have to use tankers to ferry propylene to their factories, which is more dangerous than transferring the gas through pipelines, Chang said.
“Using tank trucks to transfer petrochemical materials would be extremely dangerous, so the ministry does not advise making the change,” he said.
Chang’s comments came after Chen announced a ban on underground pipelines in Cianjhen District (前鎮).
Meanwhile, the official death toll rose to 30 yesterday as the families of two missing firemen agreed to the issuance of death certificates, even as the search for their bodies continues.
Chen visited the site where the two firemen are believed to have been before one of the explosions to pay her respect to them and the families of the dead.
Holding incense sticks in her hands, she told the two missing men that their mission had come to an end and they could go home.
She also reiterated to reporters that the pipelines that carry hazardous liquids or gases will not be reinstalled where they were prior to the explosions.
Chen said on Tuesday night that the three petrochemical pipelines in the explosion-stricken area belonging to CPC Corp, Taiwan, China Petrochemical Development Corp (CPDC) and LCY Chemical Corp and the pipelines that remain will have to emptied of any remaining residue and the companies will not be allowed to rebury them.
Pipelines outside the blast area would not be cleared for use if they fail safety checks, she said.
Responding to reporters’ questions about the potential economic losses the pipeline restrictions could cause, Chen said: “How big the economic loss would be is still a question, but there is nothing more serious than the possible loss of life of Kaohsiung residents and leaving them living in fear.”
The petrochemical industry in the municipality has an annual gross output of more than NT$500 billion (US$16.64 billion) and pays more than NT$110 billion in business tax to the central government every year, “but it is just deplorable to see the city being treated like this by the central government as the city faces the most appalling disaster in 50 years,” the mayor said.
Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau Director-General Chen Chin-te (陳金德) said that due to legal lapses in the past the petrochemical companies’ conveyance of materials and products through their pipelines was not properly regulated, but the firms would have to provide detailed information about such transfers to the bureau from now on.
The companies will also be told by the city government where they can place their pipelines, the economics minister said.
Kaohsiung is the only place in the nation that has petrochemical gas pipelines underneath downtown roads, he said. Industrial parks may have underground pipelines, but only within their own complexes, he said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
source: Taipei Times
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