Kuomintang Legislator Lee De-wei and the leader of the Cherish Algal Reefs Referendum Group Pan Chong-cheng, conducted an inspection. They discovered there was concrete covering algal reefs, and the legs of a temporary trestle were inserted into algal reefs.
The tide ebbed at 5:30 a.m. on Dec. 7, making it the opportune time for Kuomintang Legislator Lee De-wei, a member of the legislature's Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, and Pan Chong-cheng, the leader of the Cherish Algal Reefs Referendum Group, to go to Datan to conduct an inspection of the algal reefs. They headed towards the location where a pier is being built for a third LNG terminal. They discovered that there was concrete covering algal reefs, and the iron legs of a temporary trestle had been directly inserted into algal reefs.
Pan Chong-cheng, Cherish Algal Reefs Referendum Group Leader: “The area under the bridge pier and temporary trestle are continuous algal reefs. What I want to stress is that they are continuous. They claimed that there were gaps so that they could drive piles, but there are no gaps. It's said that when the tide ebbs, you'll see who isn't wearing pants. This saying has come true today.”
Lee De-wei, Legislator (KMT): “Right now, we're walking on concrete, not algal reefs. They may have been algal reefs before. President Tsai Ing-wen said that absolutely no work was taking place on top of the algal reefs, but there are disparities between what she said and the reality.”
Lee pointed out that President Tsai Ing-wen said in November during an inspection that the third terminal wasn't being built on top of algal reefs. However, the current situation shows otherwise. The purpose of the inspection on Dec. 7 was to provide people with correct information. In response, CPC Corporation said it has done its best to minimize the impacted area.
Chang Jui-tsung, Spokesperson, CPC Corporation: “For our pier, we had to choose between the lesser of two evils. If you don't use a pier, then you have to directly excavate the seabed, which would have a bigger impact on algal reefs. That's why we opted for the solution with the least environmental impact for this major national construction.”
Environmental groups say substituting Taipei Port for the third terminal can save NT$130 billion. Economic Affairs Minister Wang Mei-hua had a different opinion.
Wang Mei-hua, Economic Affairs Minister: “I don't know how they calculated savings of NT$130 billion. Right now, the third terminal project doesn't even exceed NT$130 billion. That's why I don't understand this statement at all.”
Wang said it would take 11 years to relocate the third terminal, and it's unknown whether it can be accepted. Moreover, reducing coal usage can't be delayed any longer.
今日清晨五點半，利用海水退潮的時候，立法院衛環委員會的國民黨立委李德維，與珍愛藻礁公投領銜人潘忠政前往大潭藻礁考察，直衝三接棧橋施工現場，發現確實有混凝土覆蓋藻礁，而且臨時棧橋鐵架就插在藻礁上。
潘忠政表示：「橋墩和那個臨時棧橋的下面，通通都是連綿的藻礁，我要特別強調就是連綿的藻礁，沒有他們所謂的哪個地方有空隙，他們就在那個空隙打樁，潮水退了就知道誰沒有穿褲子，今天正好應驗了這句話。」
李德維說：「雖然我們現在踏的是水泥地，就不是藻礁，過去可能是藻礁，當然的確也跟蔡總統所講的，沒有在藻礁上面來做相關工程，我覺得蔡英文總統確實講的，跟事實是有差距的。」李德維批評，蔡英文總統11月下旬曾前來視察時強調，三接沒有蓋在藻礁上，但是事實就擺在眼前，這次來考察的目的，就是讓民眾得知正確的資訊，中油則回應說，已經努力讓受影響的面積最小化。
中油公司發言人張瑞宗表示：「在我們整個棧橋的部分，是一個兩害相衡取其輕的，如果不用棧橋的方式，就要直接用海床開挖的方式，這對藻礁的影響是更大的，所以我們採取一個，是對環境影響最小的方式，來做這樣國家重大的建設。」
至於環團多次強調三接的台北港替代方案，聲稱可以省下1300億，經濟部長王美花無法認同。王美花表示：「省下1300億不知從何而來，因為現在三接方案，就沒有超過1300億，所以這樣的講法完全不太能夠理解。」
王美花強調，三接遷移的時間需要11年，但對地方而言，能不能同意，都是問題，而且減煤無法等，能源以及生態如何取捨，雙方持續交鋒。
