To monitor the soil and groundwater quality of Pingtung County, the Pingtung County Environmental Protection Bureau conducted the Pingtung 2023 Soil and Groundwater Contamination Investigation and Verification Project (hereinafter referred to as “this Project”). The tasks in this Project included the regular monitoring of groundwater, the inspection and maintenance of monitoring wells, the management of storage facilities, the verification of site improvements, the inspection of the underground storage tank systems and lands of selected enterprises, a review of water management practices in the selected enterprises, the prevention of agricultural land pollution, the tracing of channel sediments, the prevention of industrial pollution, site maintenance and risk management, and administrative support and awareness campaign tasks. The Project implementation period was from January 1 to December 20, 2023, during which time, 100% of the contractual tasks were completed. The outcomes of the Project implementation are described in the following text.
1. Groundwater Inspections
A total of 14, 6, 18, and 6 groundwater quality inspections were performed for groundwater monitoring wells neighboring seven sites, monitoring wells in areas with pollution trends, wells in areas with restricted groundwater use, and dug wells neighboring sites mentioned in public petitions or with pollution trends, respectively. Monitoring wells T00319, T00228-2, and T00483 exhibited dichloroethylene levels that slightly exceeded the maximum permissible level in the control standards for Category 2 groundwater in Taiwan; the other wells had dichloroethylene levels lower than the maximum permissible level in the control standards. Please see Chapter 3 for more information.
2. Monitoring Well Inspections and Maintenance
Maintenance and repair operations were performed 159 times for monitoring wells (170 times if the operations on double-well pipes are considered) during each half of the year. These operations included the maintenance of the appearances of four wells, the repairing of four wells, evaluations of six wells, the reconstruction of three wells, and the removal of foreign matter from two wells; the monitoring wells were found to have favorable conditions following maintenance. Well abandonment operations were performed on two standard monitoring wells. Please see Chapter 4 for more information.
3. Storage System Management
Online declarations of gas stations for Q3 of 2022 (declared January 2023), Q1 of 2023 (declared May 2023), and Q2 of 2023 (declared September 2023) were reviewed in 2023; the submission rate in each season was 100%. Instances of T3 being greater than T2, which led to higher readings in soil gas monitoring wells, occurred at the Zhongzheng Road gas station, Chienyue Neipu gas station, Xiangyang gas station, Ririchun gas station, Xiaoliuqiu gas station, Weisheng gas station, Liansheng gas stion, Weidong gas station, Taiping gas station, and Chienyue Linluo gas station. The soil gas monitoring wells at the Manfeng fishing boat filling station; the Donggang, Hengchun, and Zhengxing server rooms of the Pingtung branch of Chunghwa Telecom; the Dapingtung gas station; and the Taitang Chonglan gas station exhibited high readings and were flagged for further tracking. Furthermore, the Manfeng fishing boat filling station reported soil gas and pie chart anomalies, and tests were conducted at this site on September 27, 2023, to detect leakage from pipes as well as the oil and gas concentrations. The highest values detected by the PID and FID were 29 and 18, respectively, which indicated that no pollution occurred. Moreover, oil gas concentration tests were performed at 14 gas stations, and the results indicated that no pollution occurred at any of the sites. On-site compliance inspections and consultations for aboveground storage tanks and storage containers were performed 20 times. On-site inspections indicated that the quantity of controlled substances stored by the Golden Gate Trading Company decreased to below 200 L and that Fu Hong Foods Enterprise had switched its boiler fuel to natural gas. Consequently, given the lack of relevant storage systems (regulated by provisions on storage system management) in these enterprises, the enterprises are no longer within the scope of storage system management. Reinspection of Fong Chen Co. indicated that its newly constructed spill prevention facility was still not compliant with storage system management regulations; a reinspection has been scheduled for December 2023. Reinspection of the remaining 17 sites indicated that all improvement tasks were completed. Compliance checks and consultations were completed by June 2, 2023, for underground storage tank systems that were installed after 2021 at three sites: the Pingtung Interchange and two Mech Smile gas stations (at Shuimen and Jiachuang). No abnormalities were observed during the on-site inspections. Please see Chapter 5 for more information.
4. Verification and Emergency Response Operations
Seven verification and emergency response operations were completed during the project period. Three site verifications were performed; these verifications covered six lots at 873 Gaohua Section (partial); 22 lots at 297-1 Jiu-Ai Section (partial) in Yianpu Township, Pingtung County; 21 lots at 2513–2518, 2521–2525, 2535–2540, 2547, 2780, 2781, and 2517-1 Jiuru Section in Jiuru Village, Pingtung County; and lots of Youjin Enterprise Co. The three public petitions involved No. 14-1, Land 24, Daxi Road, Dazhou Village, Pingtung City; No. 156 Defong Street, Pingtung City; and lots 750 and 754 of Hsiangtsaopu Section, Hengchun Township. The two enterprise verification operations were performed for HIMAG Magnetic Corporation and Aalberts Integrated Piping Systems; the lead concentration in the groundwater under HIMAG Magnetic Corporation exceeded the maximum permissible value in the pollution control standards. In the public petition cases, soil concentrations of chromium, copper, nickel, and zinc exceeded the corresponding maximum permissible levels in the pollution control standards at lots 750 and 754 of Hsiangtsaopu Section, Hengchun Township. The concentrations of these heavy metals in the soil at the other sites were lower than the corresponding maximum permissible levels in the soil pollution or groundwater control standards. Please see Chapter 6 for more information.
5. Prevention of Agricultural Land Pollution
Soil samples from 18 locations and irrigation water samples from 26 locations in pollution warning zones in agricultural lands and conservation zones were tested. At two locations, the XRF results of the soil were normal during retesting. At seven locations, the dissolved oxygen in the irrigation water was lower than the value recommended in the irrigation water standards, possibly because of the backflow of farmland water. At two locations, the electric conductivity of the water exceeded the maximum permissible level in the irrigation water standards. Irrigation water was sampled at five locations in pollution warning zones, and farmland soil was sampled at 23 locations. Water retesting was performed at four locations, and 50 resin packages were installed at these locations. The testing data indicate no abnormalities in water quality in the pollution warning zones and conservation zones during 2023. Please see Chapter 7 for more information.
6. Tracing of Channel Sediments
Resin packages were installed where appropriate in three areas in which the quantity of channel sediment exceeded the maximum permissible level. The installation locations of the resin packages was selected according to the water quality of the irrigation channels or suspected pollution sources. A total of 15 sets of heavy metal analyses in water, 20 sets of resin package installations, 10 sets of sediment sampling and XRF screening, and 8 environmental monitoring sessions were completed. The testing data indicated that the quality of irrigation water in the three areas was compliant with irrigation water quality standards and that the sediment levels in these areas did not exceed relevant limits. Please see Chapter 8 for more information.
7. Prevention of Industrial Pollution
On-site inspections were performed at the locations of 16 businesses from Group A. On-site inspections and reviews of self-prevention and management plans are ongoing for six businesses from Group B. In addition, on-spite inspections are ongoing for 31 businesses from Group C. On-site inspections indicated that the groundwater at HIMAG Magnetic Corporation contained excessive levels of lead. Please see Chapters 6 and 9 for more information.
8. Administrative Support Tasks
Awareness campaigns were conducted in the form of 1 regulatory briefing, 2 briefings related to the prevention and management of industrial soil and groundwater pollution, 10 on-campus awareness events, and the dissemination of 150 sets of promotional materials. Inspections of site maintenance and risk management were performed twice per month for ongoing improvements and once per month for other sites; 106 inspections were completed in total [including inspections at four remediation sites, five control sites, one necessary response site, one restricted groundwater use zone, and one replantation site (lot 1439, Xinan Section, Wandan Township)]. The completed technical service consultations included six review meetings for sites under observation, reviews of nine site reports, reviews of two storage system management documents, reviews of 14 enterprise declarations, and other administrative tasks. Please see Chapter 10 for more information.
