FIRE OVER ILLEGAL LANDFILL CAUSES CONCERN|彰化塑膠環保工廠大火 濃煙直竄天際

A plastic recycling factory in Changhua's Fangyuan District caught fire yesterday morning and completely burnt to the ground. As the site was previously an illegal waste landfill, local residents are worried about whether there were toxic substances in the smoke and asked the EPA to investigate. Smoke from the factory which recycled plastic and made it into pellets was thick and rose straight into the sky. Fire personnel arrived and Taipower tried to cut off the electricity but made a mistake so that the firefighters had no water to use. ==HUNG PING-FENG Dep. Capt. Fourth Brigade Changhua County == Taipower mistook the electricity, we wanted them to put it back on, the recycling factory is full of recyclables. Black smoke could be seen from miles away. The factory is surrounded by fields with farming villages close by. This fire started at 10 am, at Changhua's Fanyuan District Hanbao Road, a total of 23 fire engines and 47 personnel arrived at the scene. Changhua County Environmental Protection Bureau said that it closely monitored fires that may cause water and air pollution. ==LIN MENG-HUNG Dep. Dir-Gen., Changhua County EPB== Our monitoring vehicles have arrived at the scene and are set up by residential buildings if there is any unusual situation we will immediately notify the residents and they can be evacuated. Local residents say that ten years ago, the factory site was an illegal waste landfill and when the factory moved there it did not know this. Recently the EPB was in discussion with the landowner on how to clean up the land and at a rough estimate, it would cost around NT$40 million. Now there was a fire, locals hope that the EPB could clarify whether the fire started or was continuing under the ground. TRANSLATED BY：CLARE LEAR 彰化芳苑地區有一間塑膠環保工廠在上午發生大火，讓整間廠房都付之一炬。由於它前身是非法的廢棄物掩埋場，因此有居民擔心，濃煙中會不會含有有毒物質，要求環保局嚴密監控。 起火的工廠，是回收塑膠廢棄物再加工製成塑膠粒，火勢一發不可收拾，濃煙直竄天際。 消防人員趕到現場救災，台電還一度斷錯電，造成消防隊滅火無水可用。 ==彰化縣第四大隊副大隊長 洪坪峰== 台電斷錯電 我們已經要他復電了 資源回收廠 裡面都是一些資源回收物 黑色的濃煙從數公里外都可以看見，而從另一個角度，可以發現，工廠的週邊都是農田，距離附近的農村聚落也相當近，這場火警發生在上午十點多，地點在彰化芳苑的漢寶村草漢路，現場一共動用了23輛消防車輛，47名人員到場搶救。彰化縣環保局表示，已經嚴密監控這場火可能引發的水與空氣污染。 ==彰化縣環保局副局長 林孟弘== 我們監測車已經在火災現場的 下風處的民宅 已經設置好了 異常的狀況出現的話 會立刻通知民宅 就是週邊的民宅 立刻疏散 當地居民指出，起火的工廠在10年前，曾經遭到非法掩埋廢棄物，工廠業者進駐時並不知情，環保單位日前才與地方協商要如何清理，粗估經費要四千萬，沒想到現在卻發生火災，居民希望環保單位盡快釐清，這場火是否燒出地底下的大問題。 黃千容 彭煥群 彰化報導