Keelung: Environmental groups on Wednesday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung.

According to Focus Taiwan, the appeal was filed jointly by the “Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group,” the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, and the “Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association.” These groups held a press conference outside the Executive Yuan to announce their action. Wang Hsing-chih of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group explained that the EIA failed to address several crucial issues, including soil pollution, environmental damage, and national defense concerns.

Wang pointed out that the project site borders the WeiHai Naval Base, highlighting that Chinese military drills have used LNG receiving stations as simulated targets. He criticized the EIA review process for not discussing these national security issues.

Chen Hsien-cheng, executive director of Wild at Heart, emphasized procedural flaws in the approval process, such as the failure to release the sixth draft of the EIA report seven days before the review meeting. He also noted that the assessment lacked substantive discussion on soil pollution and contained numerous errors in the coral identification data.

Tsai Ya-ying, a lawyer with Wild at Heart, argued that the landfill location was approved without obtaining written consent from the Keelung City government or holding a new scope-defining meeting. Tsai accused Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower), the state-run utility responsible for the project, of releasing misleading advertisements that claimed the terminal would emit no sulfur oxides.

The Hsieh-ho Power Plant, located near Keelung City’s main urban area, currently operates two oil-fired units, each capable of producing 500 megawatts, which began operation in 1980 and 1985. The fourth LNG receiving station had been under second-phase review since 2018 and underwent six preliminary review meetings before receiving conditional approval in February. The EIA committee mandated that Taipower address soil contamination concerns as part of their approval conditions.