Gov't stands firm in Sioulin flood probe

The head of the Public Construction Commission, Frank Fan, yesterday stressed that the 4-month investigation on the reasons behind the tragedy of Sioulin Village was conducted openly by experts from Taiwan and aboard as well as representatives of survivors from village. Nothing was done behind-the-door, Fan added.

Sioulin Village was entirely wiped out by mudslides on Aug. 9, one day after Typhoon Morakot ravaged the island. Nearly 500 villagers were believed to be buried alive under 5 stories of mud. Survivors had long suspected that the government's water diversion project at Tseng Wen Reservoir, which involved explosions and tunnel digging, had made the region more vulnerable to sudden increase of rainfalls.

The report issued by the PCC Monday concluded that the project was not the cause of the mudslide, which was instead triggered by the record amount of rainfall — 1856mm in just 72 hours.

Tsai Song-yu, Director-General of the Sioulin Reconstruction Committee, was disappointed by the report. He doubted that the report was a go-ahead for the government to bring the project back, local Chinese newspaper the Liberty Times said. He also vowed to form his own“Truth Investigation Committee”to investigate the disaster.

Explosions to build tunnels for the project as well as other factors including mass stockpiles at gravel yards and over-logging, survivors and environmental protection activists believe, were also behind the disaster.

The PCC research team found that the energy released during the construction was far lower than the trigger point of 120 gallons.

Fan pointed out that although a blast of such a degree can be felt at a distance by people sensitive to tremors, it was not big enough to cause a disaster.

According to records on vibrations caused by construction in the area between Dec. 20, 2006, when the explosions began, and Aug. 6, 2009, only 0.51 percent of the records showed figures higher than noise vibration standards set by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).

By comparison, 0.6 percent of the vibrations recorded between Sept. 10, 2004 and Dec. 20, 2006, before the blasting began, exceeded EPA standards, Fan said.

The figures show that the tremors caused by project's explosions could not have caused a disaster.

Fan stressed that an evaluation by the Central Weather Bureau's seismologic monitoring station and United States (U.S.) geologic surveys targeting tremors set off by dynamite also reached the same conclusion.

Meanwhile, when asked whether the suspended Tseng Wen Reservoir water diversion project would be resumed, Fan said a PCC research team has suggested that the water channels be completed to prevent them from collapsing.

He added, however, that it would be up to the Ministry of Economic Affairs to decide whether the project will be restarted.

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