德州職災受害工人團體抗議台塑聲稱生產對健康與環境無顯著影響

發表時間：2009年10月14日，星期三，下午12:06

發表人：dpacheco

台塑集團同意支付1300萬美元，作為部分環保局針對違法污染所開出的處分。其中有1000多萬美元將用在「控制違法污染問題，針對空氣、水，以及有毒廢棄物」，另外有280萬美元的行政罰鍰則會用來「解決違反清淨空氣條例、淨水條例、資源保育及回收法案，和緊急應變及社區知曉權法的問題。」（塑膠新聞網）

雖然受到處分，台塑集團副董事長藍迪史密斯（Randy Smith）仍然宣稱，在德州康福港的塑膠工廠「對環境與健康並無顯著影響」。德州卡杭郡的職災受害工人聯盟則有不同的訴求，他們在工廠內工作的親身經歷，可不像史密斯說的那麼美好，他們發出以下新聞稿：

德州職災受害工人團體抗議台塑集團，遭環保局罰款1300萬，仍聲稱對環境與健康無顯著影響

【德州卡杭郡】德州卡杭郡職災受害工人聯盟最近聯合職業安全健康局、環保局，以及德州環境品質委員會發出聲明，表示他們擔憂台塑副董事長藍迪史密斯的發言，聲稱德州康福港的塑膠工廠「對環境與健康並無顯著影響」，然而環保局在最近才因為台塑集團在德州及路易斯安那州，大規模破壞環境及違法行為，開出同意判決書，罰款1300萬美元。

職災受害工人團體包括現職及過去曾經是工人的成員，當中有些在台塑德州廠1981年開始營運時，就在廠裡工作過，當中有些是告發者，他們在2009年時團結起來，互相扶持克服殘疾和財務困境，分享在台塑工作的經驗，他們相信這家公司極度漠視工人、社區以及環境。

根據2009年9月29日最新公布的1300萬美元同意判決書，環保局在德州康福港台塑塑膠工廠的稽查員，發現眾多違反清淨空氣條例中監測外洩及處理善後的方法，包括未能妥當監測氣體外洩機件（一座廠房有五百台），未能將化學加工設備納入氣體外洩監測及修繕程序中，並未能即時修復氣體外洩設備。稽查員同時發現「重度」違反氣體外洩監測及處理善後的情況，以及廠房違法處理有毒廢棄物及違法排放廢水。

職災受害工人團體引述自己親身在廠房內的工作經歷。一位工人過去在台塑內負責每日記錄氯乙烯的外洩量，他說外洩量的範圍從百萬分之1.2、7、13、35、177、987，一直到2053都有，而且打從他在那裡工作，二十多年來每年、每天、每個小時都是這樣。另一個工人在台塑的最後一項工作，是要他將四噸的氯乙烯外洩竄改為不到三磅，之後公司將這數據交給環保局。氯乙烯是一種可能致癌物質，會傷害肝臟、大腦、肺臟和造血器官，並且與神經損害有關係。職業安全健康局要求，工人不得暴露在氯乙烯濃度超過百萬分之一的環境超過八小時。

職災受害工人安全委員會聯合聲明：「我們認為以台塑糟糕的環保記錄來看，他們的職業記錄也啟人疑竇，我們自己就是證明。我們當中有許多人診斷出患有血小板增多症、神經受損、認知損傷，以及嚴重末梢神經病變，只能藉助手術植入幫浦，全年無休注入止痛劑。我們有一位成員，跟他共事過的一個朋友因腦癌過世，還有一位工人因為吸入機器閥門及凸緣外洩的氣體，得了血管肉瘤及肝癌病逝。一些工人頭上長了硬塊，朋友叫他們去做切片檢查，可是他們沒有，因為害怕自己會被診斷出罹患腦癌。」

2009年1月，科學期刊「超毒物」（Exotoxicity）上發表了一篇由德州農工大學科學家的報告，研究發現台塑工廠下風處六哩以內地區的牛隻，出現染色體結構變化以及其他基因缺陷。衛斯理比塞特是這篇研究報告的主要作者，同時也是德州農工大學獸醫系助理教授，表示具基因缺陷的牛隻都是「群聚在台塑工廠周圍，缺陷程度最嚴重的都發生在工廠附近或下風處的牛隻身上」。

2009年10月15日，環保局將在卡杭郡召開會議，處理台塑二氯乙烯的大規模污染問題，因為鄰近的三十五號公路上一處國有休息區已經被迫關閉，在休息區附近的房產也全由政府無條件收購，將「問題區域」的土地埋在五呎深的泥土底下，還造成地下水及鄰近舵手灣的汙染達到百萬分之數千，此時已經無法確保當地水井的水質安全，環保局正在檢測工廠半徑五哩範圍內的所有水井。

2009年11月21日，道德經濟基金會將在德國柏林頒獎，把國際黑色星球獎頒發給台塑集團的台灣創立者及集團執行長，因為他們的商業策略破壞了我們的地球。

目前和職災受害工人聯盟合作的科學家，分別來自杜蘭大學公共衛生及熱帶醫療學院的健康科學中心、德州農工大學獸醫學系，以及德州大學醫學院迦維斯敦分校，共同提出對健康的訴求。工人團體表示：「台灣的醫院將與台塑有關的工人疾病稱作『台塑症』。我們在德州這裡也有相同的問題。」

Texas Injured Workers Group Disputes Formosa Plastics’ Claim of No Significant Health and Environmental Impacts

Categories: Nature & Environment

Posted on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 12:06 pm by dpacheco

Formosa Plastics has agreed to pay $13 million dollars as part of an EPA settlement over pollution violations. More than $10 million will be spent “on pollution controls to address air, water, and hazardous waste violations”, along with a $2.8 million civil penalty to be paid “to resolve violations under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act” (PlasticsNews.com).

In spite of the settlement, Formosa vice president Randy Smith claims that the PVC facility in Point Comfort, Texas has had “no significant environmental and health impacts.” Injured Workers United of Calhoun County, Texas begs to differ. Their personal experience working inside the plant paints a far less rosy picture. They sent out the following press release:

Texas Injured Workers Group Disputes Formosa Plastics’ Claim of No Significant Health and Environmental Impacts After $13 Million EPA Findings

Calhoun County, Texas…Injured Workers United of Calhoun County, Texas recently filed letters with OSHA, EPA, and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) stating their concerns over Formosa vice president’s, Randy Smith, claim that the PVC facility in Point Comfort, Texas has had “no significant environmental and health impacts” in spite of the extensive violations and infractions cited by the EPA in their recent $13 Million Consent Decree against Formosa Plastics Corporation in Texas and Louisiana.

The injured workers group consists of current and former workers—some of whom have worked at the Formosa Plastics, Texas facility since its start up in l981, some of whom are whistleblowers– who came together in 2009 to support each other through disabilities, illnesses, financial hard times, and the experience of working under a company that, they believed, showed a high disregard for its workers, community, and the environment.

According to the recent $13 Million Consent Decree in September 29, 2009, EPA investigators at the Formosa Plastics facility in Point Comfort, Texas found extensive Clear Air Act leak detection and repair violations, including failure to properly monitor leaking components (500 in one unit), failure to include chemical manufacturing equipment in its leak detection and repair program, and failure to timely repair leaking equipment. The inspectors also found “extensive” leak detection and repair violation, as well as other hazardous waste violations at the site and wastewater discharge violations.

The injured workers group cited their own working experience within the facility. One worker was involved in Formosa’s daily logging of vinyl chloride leaks. He said the leaks ranged from 1.2 to 7 to 13 to 35 to 177 to 987 to 2,053 parts per million (ppm) and this for every hour of every day of every year of the 20+years that he worked there. . Another worker’s last act at Formosa was after he was told to falsify a four-ton vinyl chloride release that the company later reported as less than 3 pounds to the EPA. Vinyl chloride is a potent carcinogenic that targets the liver, brain, lungs, blood forming organs, and is linked to neurological damage. OSHA requires that a worker not be exposed to vinyl chloride over 1ppm averaged over any 8-hour period.

The Injured Workers’ safety committee jointly stated, “We believe that Formosa’s sloppy environmental record can only mean that their occupational record is also suspect. We, ourselves, are proof of it. Many of us have documented thrombocytosis, neurological damage, cognitive impairment, and severe peripheral neuropathy that can only be treated by a surgically implanted pump that delivers painkillers 24/7. One member of our group has a friend in his unit that died from brain cancer. Another worker that sniffed the leaking valves and flanges died of angiosarcoma, liver cancer. A number of workers have developed knots on their heads and have been told by friends to get a biopsy, but they haven’t. They are afraid they will be diagnosed with brain cancer.”

In January, 2009, the science journal Exotoxicity, published a report by scientists at Texas A&M that revealed changes in chromosome structure and other genetic damage in cattle as far as six miles downwind of Formosa. Wesley Bissett, lead study author and veterinarian at Texas A&M College of Veterinarian Medicine, said the cattle with the DNA damage were “orientated around the Formosa facility, with the highest damage occurring with those nearby and those downwind.”

In October 15, 2009, the EPA will conduct a meeting in Calhoun County regarding Formosa’s extensive ethylene dichloride (EDC) contamination that has forced closure of a nearby state rest area on Highway 35, buy-out of subsequent nearby property, burying of ‘questionable area’ under five foot of soil, and contamination of the groundwater and nearby Cox Creek in the thousands part per million. The safety of local water wells is unsure at this time and the EPA is testing wells within a five-mile radius of the facility.

In November 21, 2009 in Berlin, Germany, the Ethecon Foundation will award Formosa Plastics’ Taiwan founders and corporate executives the international Black Planet Award for their destructive policies towards the planet Earth.

The Injured Workers United group is currently working with scientists from Tulane University Health Science Center, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine, and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston to address their health concerns.

The group stated, “The hospitals in Taiwan call the worker illnesses related to Formosa the ‘Formosa Syndrome’. We have the same problem here in Texas.”