CITY GOVT. TO AUDIT LAUNDROMATS AS COMPLAINTS RISE|自助洗衣店頻遭投訴 北市6月起專案稽查

Laundromats account for 40 percent of the laundry stores in Taipei City. The neighboring residents often find it troublesome to hear the noise and smell the chemical odors. The Taipei City Government has received over hundreds of complaints every year. To strengthen autonomous management of the operators, the city government is to conduct an audit of laundromats from June 1. Laundromats are open 24 hours a day. Besides providing convenience to customers, they may as well bother neighboring residents, as washing machines make deafening noise and the odor of chemicals keep coming out during the drying process. Located on the 1st floor of the community residence, the laundromat has received multiple complaints from the public and been asked to make improvements. The janitor of the building has also suffered from the same predicament. S ==BUILDING MANAGER== The odor persists day and night. As long as people rinse and dry their clothes, the odor will come along. How can you find it comfortable to smell the odor of chemicals? Having been audited and counseled by the Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection many times, the operators have installed ozone generators, activated carbon filters, UV light and so on. The business hours are shortened from 8 am to 10 pm. Starting from June 1, the DEP is to conduct a joint audit on air, noise and wastewater pollution. ==CHEN CHAO-CHOU Taipei City Govt. EPD The noise level is 57 decibels for the day and 47 decibels for the night. If someone reports the case of disturbance of peace to us and it is later confirmed, the operators will be subject to fines of NT$3000 to NT$30,000. In 2015 and 2016, 424 laundry stores under Taipei City Government's watch received over hundreds of complaints from the public and laundromats account for 40 percent of the laundry stores. After the public reported the case to the authorities concerned, the operators were often nowhere in sight upon inspectors' arrival, which made it impossible to see immediate improvements in noise pollution. The DEP has sent letters to ask the operators to strengthen autonomous management and take on due responsibility. TRANSLATED BY：BRYANT CHANG 台北市洗衣店採自助式經營的佔了將近四成，但噪音或洗衣精飄散出來的化學氣味，時常讓周遭居民感到困擾，北市一年接到的陳情都會超過上百件。為了加強業者的自主管理，北市宣布6月1號開始啟動專案稽查。 不分晝夜，24小時營業的自助洗衣店，隨時敞開大門，不過帶給消費者最大方便之餘，卻可能讓鄰居苦不堪言，因為洗衣機會發出轟隆轟隆的噪音，還有烘乾過程中，會飄散出化學香料的味道。這處社區住宅，一樓就是自助洗衣店，已經多次遭到民眾檢舉、要求改進，而大樓管理員也深受其害。 ==大樓管理員== 隨時隨地都有啦 只要有人有洗 機器有烘乾 都會 有啟動就會有味道 那種化學味道你怎麼會舒服 經北市環保局多次稽查勸導，業者已經在排放口末端裝上臭氧機、活性碳過濾網、紫外光等設備，營業時間也從24小時，縮短到早上八點到晚上十點。為了降低自助洗衣店對鄰居的負面影響，環保局宣布6月1號起，將針對空氣、噪音、廢水等汙染聯合稽查。 ==台北市環保局環保稽查大隊長 陳沼舟== 那這個日間的標準是57分貝 那夜間這種標準是47分貝 被陳情人有檢舉 確實我們查證以後 妨礙安寧的話 我們可以處分 3千塊到3萬元的罰鍰 台北市列管的424家洗衣店，104年和105年接受到民眾的陳情案件，都超過上百件。而其中，自助式洗衣店又佔了將近四成，民眾檢舉後時常發生，稽查人員到了現場，卻不見業者蹤影，無法立刻改善噪音等汙染，目前，環保局已經發函要求業者加強自主管理、承擔應有的責任。 記者 黃怡菁 彭耀祖 台北報導