Jiangcheng Company's Underground Factory Discharges Waste, Polluting Keelung River; Prosecutors Indict 32 and Seek Heavy Sentences

Keelung City's tap water reported an odor on November 27 last year, affecting over 70,000 households. The Keelung District Prosecutors Office immediately formed a special task force to investigate and found that Jiangcheng Company, an乙級 (Class B) waste clearance agency, was only permitted to transport ship waste oil to qualified facilities for treatment. As it had not obtained a waste treatment permit, it was legally prohibited from processing waste. Prosecutors pointed out that Jiangcheng Company, at the latest since 2020, had set up an illegal underground factory in a rented parking lot within the Nuannuan District water protection area. It processed the transported ship waste oil, sold the waste oil after oil-water separation, and discharged the untreated wastewater into the Keelung River, which then entered the tap water supply system, endangering the water safety of residents in Keelung City and Xizhi District, New Taipei City. Prosecutors stated that Jiangcheng Company also processed ship waste oil from Manjin Company in Kaohsiung City and sold the illegally processed waste oil to Manjin Company, Juzhen Company in Miaoli County, and Taiqing Company in Taoyuan City. These companies then mixed the waste oil with industrial oil and resold it to unsuspecting manufacturers. Prosecutors further noted that Jiangcheng Company conspired with the legitimate company Taiqing Company to falsely claim that all collected waste oil was transported to Taiqing Company for treatment (known as "running empty orders"), thereby concealing their illegal activities. Statistics show that Jiangcheng and three other companies obtained illicit profits totaling over NT$402.97 million through this model. The special task force conducted nearly four months of investigation, carried out four searches, and applied for the seizure of assets belonging to the defendants involved, totaling over NT$305.22 million already seized. Prosecutors indicated that Jiangcheng Company's responsible person, a man surnamed You, and eight others are suspected of violating the Waste Disposal Act, Water Pollution Control Act, and the Criminal Code for discharging substances harmful to health and polluting rivers. Manjin Company's responsible person, a man surnamed Huang, and six others, Juzhen Company's responsible person, a man surnamed Gu, and six others, and Taiqing Company's responsible person, a woman surnamed Fan, and four others are suspected of violating the Waste Disposal Act. Prosecutors recommend that the court impose heavy sentences. The Keelung City Government stated that it cooperated closely with the Keelung District Prosecutors Office in this case and will announce the city government's penalties within two days after the indictment. (Editor: Lin Shu-hui) 1150408