2 landfills contaminated by toxic chemicals

The EPA swept the dioxin probe through seven sites that could be contaminated by dumped steel slag and found no single site with excessive dioxin, but high levels of chemical were detected.

The amount of copper in the soil of the landfill on Hsintso Road was 585 milligrams per kilogram of soil, 185 milligrams more than the EPA standards.

Waste on the site contained 21.2 milligrams of copper per liter, higher than the EPA standards of 15 milligrams.

The other site on Shanpien Road was tainted with heavy levels of zinc, cadmium, and lead. The zinc found in the soil was 2,510 milligrams per kilogram, 510 milligrams more than the safety level.

Per liter of the waste on the site had some 22 milligrams of lead, four times of allowed limit, and nearly 7 milligrams of cadmium, almost seven times of the EPA standard.

The EPA and the Council of Agriculture took samples of tilapia raised from the pond nearby the tainted duck farm. A low level of dioxin was found among the tilapia. Ten thousand kilograms of tilapia were destroyed as a result of fear from the public.

As some of the nearby plots are currently used to grow pineapples, the EPA also ran a test on the agricultural products. According to the EPA, although a huge amount of dioxin does not usually remain in plants, the 0.35-hectare of pineapples would be destroyed today to ease the worries.

The dioxin panic broke out as nearly 10,000 ducks in Daliao Township proved to be dioxin-tainted and contain five times of the standard levels of copper, nickel, chromium, zinc, and arsenic. The ducks were slaughtered as of Nov. 12.

The pollution in the ducks was resulted from the landfill being illegally filled with dumped steel mill slag.

Since the sites were found with traces of dioxin, the EPA said it would run more test in order to find the cause of the tainted ducks. The result will be available by the end of the year.

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