Near the residential area of Yuanli Town, InfraVest
(InfraVest Wind Power Co.) plans to build high-density wind turbines that are
more than one hundred meters high with a rotating speed of 160km/h at the tail
end of the rotor blades.. Besides the residential areas and settlements, harbors,
roads, farmland, and even the natural reserves of white egret will all be in
the shadow of giant wind turbines.
While InfraVest claims that it already passed the EIA
review and obtained a construction permit, lawyers and engineering experts have
found that the EIA review of this case was seriously flawed. Not only does the information in its EIA
report contain false information, but InfraVest, as a German renewable energy company,
has violated its corporate social responsibility as stated in the OECD
Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Global Compact by using coercion and threats against people
expressing their concerns and opposition.
FACT Sheet regarding the
Unethical operation of InfraVest’s wind farm construction in Yuanli
1. InfraVest manipulated
the EIA review with false information
With respect to its
development in three towns—Yuanli, Tongsiao and Jhunan—in
its EIA report, InfraVest tried to deceive the EIA review commission by
conforming to a seemingly reasonable scale in accordance with regulation. However, its real plan is to transfer an
additional five turbines to Yuanli Town, which has the shortest coastline among
the three. The residents have brought Infravest’s
flawed EIA review to administrative court and the case is in process.
2. Lack of consultation
with local residents, who are the stakeholders in this case.
InfraVest did not hold
any public briefings or meetings with residents of Yuanli while the living environment
in Yuanli was severely affected by InfraVest’s construction of wind turbines. The majority of local residents knew nothing
of the construction, which government thought was only minor construction when
the machines and tools arrived in their village. After realizing the situation, more than half
of the residents stood up and opposed the construction. In spite of this,
InfraVest still shows no sincerity in communicating with the local residents
and keeps pushing for construction—even by
force. Without
sufficient communication with the stakeholders, the local residents have no
trust in InfraVest and consider the construction illegitimate.
3. InfraVest claims that
it is a “green company” while refusing to observe any CSR
guidelines. The company not only keeps
providing false information to the government and the public, but it also hires
thugs to use violence against the protestors.
Such practice has bankrupted its credibility and caused great danger to human life and the environment
In its EIA report,
InfraVest clearly stated that they intended “to keep a long distance between
the construction of wind turbines and any buildings. The space between north-south bound turbines should
be 350 meters, and the east-west 210 meters”. In reality, the company did not
keep its promise in the report and most of the turbines have a much shorter
interval space. One engineering expert
has expressed his concern that the insufficient distance will cause negative
effects to the environment and even damage people’s lives and property.
Additional reports—
沒有留言:
張貼留言