To gain insight into the quality of the soil and groundwater in Pingtung County, the Environmental Protection Bureau of the Pingtung County Government (hereafter “EPB Pingtung”) conducted the 2022 Pingtung County Soil and Groundwater Pollution Survey and Verification Project (hereafter “this Project”), which involved the regular monitoring of groundwater, inspection and maintenance of monitoring wells, management of storage facilities, verification of site improvements, assessment of underground storage systems and lands for posted undertakings, implementation of educational campaigns, investigation of posted undertakings, and performance of on-site maintenance and risk management. This project was conducted from January 1 to December 20, 2022. Within the contract period, 100% of the contractual tasks were completed; the outcomes of the tasks completed during this time are described as follows:
A. Groundwater surveys
Twenty-one groundwater surveys were completed during this project. The test results indicated that 1,1-dichloroethene in Well T00319—located in a pollution potential zone—was graded higher than category 2, as detailed in the groundwater pollution monitoring standards. The remaining six supervised sites, three public wells in Xinkailiao District, eight dug wells, and three monitoring wells in pollution potential zones contained lower concentration of pollutants than indicated by a category 2 grade in the groundwater pollution monitoring standards. Please see Chapter 3 for more details.
B. Well inspection and maintenance
During this project, 324 semiannual inspections and maintenance sessions of the outside of monitoring wells (including 349 dual-channel pipelines), repairs to eight monitoring wells (including renovations of external protective equipment and restoration of concrete platforms), and 32 evaluations of well conditions were performed. Sixteen wells were reconditioned and foreign materials were removed from five wells. Seven monitoring wells (five standard monitoring wells and two simple wells) were sealed. The inspection and maintenance records are archived in the Environmental Protection Administration’s Soil and Groundwater Data Management System, in accordance with regulations. For more information, please see Chapter 4.
C. Storage system management
The 427th underground storage network declaration and audit was completed during this project, including the third declaration and audit of 2021 and the first and second declaration and audit of 2022; the submission rate of each season was 100%. A total of 33 leakage detection pipe inspections were completed; 26 of those inspections were performed as part of this project, and the remaining seven inspections were performed by Eurofins Blue Formosa Environmental Technical. No abnormal concentrations of oil gas were detected. Compliance assessment and counseling tasks were completed for 144 storage systems: the underground storage system of a gas station in Chunghua Li was determined to be satisfactory. Following the on-site counseling of 143 aboveground storage tank businesses, 40 businesses were revealed to be missing from the regulatory listing; out of the remaining 103 storage tank businesses, 15 were compliant with regulations, and 88 businesses required further improvements. To date, 59 aboveground storage tank businesses have undergone a second inspection (52 businesses had completed their improvements, 5 were missing from the regulatory listing, and 2 are expected to submit improvement plans soon). The 29 businesses that have not undergone a second inspection are expected to complete the second inspection within a regulated timeframe. The details are presented in Chapter 5.
D. Verification and emergency response procedures
Eight verification and emergency response procedures were completed during this project; these included five verification cum emergency response procedures and three verification procedures. Soil samples from Youjin Enterprise contained a TPH concentration of 2,870 mg/kg, exceeding the soil pollution control standard of 1,000 mg/kg. Soil samples from Yuanxin Enterprise’s Pingtung site contained 2,090 mg/kg of TPH and 477 mg/kg of heavy metals, exceeding the regulatory standards (1,000 mg/kg and 250 mg/kg, respectively). Both businesses are expected to adopt necessary response measures in accordance with Article 7, Paragraph 5 of the Soil and Groundwater Pollution Remediation Act. Among the other survey results, no other soil sample concentrations exceeded the monitoring standards. Details are provided in Chapter 6 of this report.
E. Administrative support
The educational campaign implemented during this project comprised one teacher training session, one briefing session on relevant regulations, eleven campus awareness events, the production of one public awareness video, and the production of 150 print publications. Regarding on-site maintenance and risk management, inspections were conducted twice a month at sites implementing improvements and once a month at the other sites; a total of 228 inspections were completed at four remediation sites, six control sites, two sites implementing necessary response measures, and one groundwater use restriction zone; these included maintenance of two vegetation restoration sites (Lot 1439 of Xin’An Section of Wandan Township and parts of Lots 1140 and 1141 of Rongxing Section of Changzhi Township). Technical services and consultations comprised assisting with the holding of three review meetings at listed control sites and the review of ten site reports, the publication of six documents on storage system management rules, and the issuance of 27 declarations from officially announced businesses. Details are presented in Chapter 7 of this report.
