MOENV traces Keelung water pollution to bus contractor amid probe

Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) The Ministry of Environment (MOENV) said Wednesday it has traced a major pollution source in the Keelung River oil contamination probe to a repair depot operated by a maintenance contractor for Kuo-Kuang Motor Transport.

MOENV said in a statement that inspectors searching high-risk areas around the Badu pumping station on Dec. 1 found the depot discharging wastewater without a permit, operating without treatment facilities, and storing oil without required spill-containment structures -- all serious violations of the Water Pollution Control Act.

The Keelung Environmental Protection Bureau cited the company on the spot and ordered an immediate halt to operations, it added.

The ministry said other potential pollution sources have also been identified, with an environmental task force and police now gathering evidence.

The investigation follows instances of oily odors detected in tap water in several Keelung districts and parts of New Taipei since late November.

In response, MOENV convened an emergency meeting directing Taiwan Water Corp. (TWC) to strengthen early-warning measures.

These include more frequent patrols, keeping oil booms and absorbent pads at intake points, conducting raw-water odor checks every two hours, accelerating deployment of new in-water oil-monitoring sensors, and assessing whether raw water should be routed through the Xinshan Reservoir for quality stabilization.

Separately, Keelung on Wednesday eased earlier fears of an imminent water cutoff after white foamy pollutants appeared in a drainage channel in Nuannuan District on Tuesday.

TWC President Lee Tin-lai (李丁來) said the off-stream Xishi Reservoir supplying Nuannuan and parts of Ren'ai District holds about 185,000 cubic meters of water.

With around 17,000 cubic meters flowing in daily and assistance from other treatment plants, it is supplying roughly 16,000 cubic meters per day--enough for about 10 days of stable service.

The updated figure improves on TWC's earlier projection of just three days, which Lee described as an extreme worst-case scenario.

TWC has suspended intake from the Keelung River since Nov. 27 and will resume only after sludge at the polluted site is cleared and water samples from upstream to the Badu pumping station show no safety concerns.

A mobile lab at the Xinshan Water Treatment Plant can screen for 236 chemical substances, allowing intake to restart within two days once approved by the city government, the comany said.

If contamination persists, TWC plans to bypass the affected section by laying 1.5 km of temporary pipeline to upstream sources, a process expected to take about 10 days.

Keelung earlier said the broader contamination incident has affected more than 71,000 households across five districts and announced relief subsidies for bottled water purchases, medical expenses from symptoms linked to contaminated tap water, and water-tower cleaning completed before Dec. 31.