Water Used to Clean Corpses Dumped into Hsinchu River?|竹東殯葬廢水遭疑排入頭前溪 引居民恐慌

Hsinchu County residents recently reported six funeral and interment businesses for dumping water used to clean corpses into a water source, contaminating the drinking water of hundreds of thousands of residents. Hsinchu County Magistrate Yang Wen-ke has ordered relevant agencies to test the water on a daily basis.


Residents of Zhudong Township in Hsinchu County recently reported six funeral and interment businesses for dumping water that had been used to clean corpses into Touqian River, which provides drinking water for the population. The businesses refuted these reports. Meanwhile, groups advocating clean water said an administrative committee should be established as quickly as possible to clarify the facts.

There are 750,000 people downstream who drink and use this water. The impact on us is huge, and that's why we're calling on the central, county, and city governments to quickly establish an administrative committee to clarify the facts. The county government should also be the first to take responsibility and offer ways to improve immediately.

Hsinchu County Magistrate Yang Wen-ke said the services offered by these six funeral and interment businesses will be inspected, and any violation will be severely punished. He has also asked the Bureau of Environmental Protection to send personnel to the businesses to take water samples on a daily basis.

Funeral and interment businesses are not allowed to offer services before they have completed these improvements. We want to emphasize this. We also hope the Zhudong Township Office and Zhudong Township Funeral Home will coordinate with these six businesses and create a platform so that these service providers can work with Zhudong Township Funeral Home.

The county government said these businesses will have to make improvements before they can offer services. If they fail to do so, they can be continuously fined NT$30,000 to NT$150,000. It also asked people not to spread rumors.



新竹縣竹東鎮6家殯葬公司，被民眾爆出疑似讓清洗大體的水，直接排入大新竹民生用水來源「頭前溪」，引發民眾恐慌，業者表示絕不可能這種狀況，長期關注用水環境團體，則認為應該盡速成立相關管理委員會來釐清事件。

喝好水聯盟召集人 彭桂枝表示：「我們下游75萬人，就是喝這個水，用這個水，所以對我們來說，衝擊非常大。所以我們呼籲中央跟縣市政府，儘速成立流域管理委員會，釐清這個亂象。縣政府也應該第一責任、第一時間，去負起確實的輔導。」

新竹縣長指出，將針對這6家殯葬業者的服務項目加強稽核，如有違反規定，依法重罰。此外，也要求環保局每天派員站崗，採水確認。

新竹縣長 楊文科表示：「殯葬設施業還沒有完成之前，它是絕對不可以做這些事項。我們要特別聲明，也希望我們竹東鎮公所這邊，跟我們竹東鎮立殯儀館，跟6家業者，也可以做協調，做一個平台，讓這些殯葬服務業者，可以跟竹東鎮立殯儀館合作。」

縣府指出在未完成改善前，不可執行殯葬設施業者的服務，否則可以按次連續罰3萬到15萬元，也呼籲民眾不要散布謠言。