By KHT Staff
KAOHSIUNG — Five businesses have been cited for illegal wastewater discharge after about 4,800 kg of dead fish were found in Houjin Creek (後勁溪), the Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau said.
The bureau stated that recent showers had washed pollutants from upstream areas into the creek, resulting in the deaths of a large number of fish on Monday.
Environmental inspectors launched a special inspection on Tuesday along the upper reaches of Houjin Creek near Singjhong Bridge (興中橋) on Youchang Drainage (右昌排水).
The inspection covered 111 businesses, including restaurants, auto repair shops, scooter shops, and car washes.
The bureau said five businesses were found discharging wastewater illegally. Four were food businesses, and one was a long-term care operator.
Some businesses had grease traps that were not working effectively, while others had no grease traps, allowing oily and cloudy wastewater to enter the drainage system and pollute the creek, the bureau said.
The bureau said the businesses violated Article 27 of the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法) and face fines ranging from NT$1,200 to NT$100,000. They were also ordered to make improvements by a set deadline.
The Water Resources Bureau will continue inspecting Houjin Creek and Youchang Drainage to protect the river environment, city officials said.
The Agriculture Bureau’s Animal Protection Office collected fish carcass samples on Monday. Laboratory tests did not isolate Streptococcus agalactiae in tilapia and did not detect tilapia lake virus, preliminarily ruling out animal disease as the cause.
The Environmental Protection Bureau urged businesses to properly maintain pollution-control facilities, especially during the summer, when water quality can change quickly.
Residents who see illegal discharge, abnormal oil pollution, or dead fish in waterways can call the 1999 city hotline or the bureau’s pollution complaint line at 07-731-7600.
