Wu gives go-ahead to science park plan

Wu explained that the passage of the new EIA has met the requirement of the Taipei High Administrative Court, which ordered two months ago that the development project should be suspended “until the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) reaches a conclusion on a new EIA.”

“We therefore conclude preliminarily that it will be lawful to restore the development work,” Wu told reporters.

The new EIA was approved by the EPA Tuesday, Aug. 31 and the National Science Council (NSC) is expected to issue a new development permit for the project based on the new assessment.

The Taipei High Administrative Court first ruled in 2008 that the original EIA for the Houli project should be revoked on the grounds that it did not pass a health hazard evaluation.

The ruling was upheld by the Supreme Administrative Court in January 2010 and in line with this decision, the Taipei High Administrative Court issued an injunction July 30 to suspend the project.

An appeal filed by the EPA and the NSC against the injunction was rejected by the Supreme Administrative Court Thursday.

The Houli branch is the third phase of the science park's expansion project. Most of the public facilities and infrastructure have been completed and some companies, including AU Optronics Corp. and Sunner Solar Co., have already begun production there.

In response to the court injunction, the government stopped work on the branch's infrastructure development but allowed industrial production to continue there.

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