Groups say Port of Taichung projects evade reviews, endanger dolphins

Taichung, July 1 (CNA) Conservation groups on Wednesday accused developers at the Port of Taichung of planning to sidestep environmental reviews, warning the projects threaten the endangered Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, also known as Matsu's Fish.

Kuo Chia-wen (郭佳雯), a researcher with the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, told CNA that the Port of Taichung, CPC Corp., Taiwan, and Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) are pursuing harbor projects in ways meant to evade environmental impact assessments.

The planned projects included land reclamation by the Port of Taichung for CPC's expansion of LNG Terminal 2 and Taipower's construction of LNG Terminal 5, covering 600 hectares, about 20 percent of the Taichung Harbor outer port area, according to the groups.

The developers are adopting a "divide and conquer" approach, intending to split large projects into smaller ones to bypass environmental impact assessments, Kuo said.

Taiwan's subspecies of the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin is critically endangered, with fewer than 50 remaining near its main habitat around Taichung Harbor, she added.

In response, the Port of Taichung said its outer harbor expansion project is still undergoing environmental impact assessment in accordance with the law, and the findings will serve as an important reference for subsequent project reviews.