Dyeing and finishing factory pollutes river – indignant melon farmers call for compensation

Melon farmer Lin Jin Chen, in Guanyin Township, Taoyuan has been left bitterly angered and saddened after watching his melon fields being polluted with wastewater from a nearby factory. It is alleged that the nearby Quanfu Dyeing and Finishing Factory discharged wastewater late at night; the filthy brown water followed the flow of the river and found its way into farm fields.  Farmer Lin Jin Chen expressed his outrage and feeling of great indignation after seeing all his laborious work and toil ruined.

“Who the hell wants to buy melons that have been grown on wastewater?” remarked Mr. Lin. With no one willing to buy these melons, all the money Mr. Lin has spent this season, as well as all his sweat and toil, will vanish without any returns. Inspectors from the Environmental Protection Agency visited the scene to investigate the scope of the problem and ordered a representative from the dyeing factory at the center of allegations to be present. On arrival, factory director, Mr. Peng denied allegations that his factory was the source of the pollution, however after Daku Stream Cultural Association arrived and exposed Mr. Peng’s lack of integrity and honesty, he quickly agreed to take responsibility and pay compensation.

However, Mr. Lin emphasized that even with a verbal promise from the factory that they would pay compensation, whether or not he would receive an acceptable settlement was far from concrete – the rights and benefits of the man in the street are rarely respected.
 

Dyeing and finishing factory pollutes river – indignant melon farmers call for compensation

URL: http://www.peopo.org/news/78866

(以下為中文對照)

染整廠汙染溪流農田瓜農跳腳求償 ( 大堀溪小兵 )

照片

桃園縣觀音鄉大堀溪的支流大同溪，溪畔有一家泉福染整公司，深夜偷排廢水，黑褐色的廢水隨著溪流進入灌溉溝，也流到瓜農林金貞的西瓜田。受害的林先生，對著 自己辛勤栽培的瓜田，受此嚴重汙染，憤恨難當。誰要買泡過汙水長大的西瓜呢？沒有人要買這樣的西瓜，那這一季所付出的成本和所流的血汗，就完全化為烏有 了。環保局稽查員到場探勘汙染狀況後，把肇事的廠商請來，彭姓廠長先否認是自家工廠的廢水，遭大堀溪文化協會理事長當場揭穿其誠信有問題，隨後允諾會負責 賠償。不過，就算是得到現場允諾，民眾甚麼時候能獲得合理的賠償也是未定之天，小老百姓的權益真的太難得到伸張。

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