Listed company Taiwan Fertilizer has floated using its long-abandoned Keelung plant as a soil and stone resource site. Keelung's city government prefers a data center and has voiced reservations, while the company says the idea is still at the feasibility stage.
According to a United Daily News investigation published November 3, Taiwan Fertilizer proposed to the city a revitalisation plan for its Keelung Plant 1 that includes a soil and stone resource recycling zone. The zone would cover about 20,000 square meters, one of five planned areas. The company said it would treat ammonia-contaminated soil on site and take dredged material from the Tianliao River to build an industry chain.
광고 문의 · 300×250Questions left by the 2023 Nangang soil dispute
The backdrop is a controversy from early 2023, when a reader tip alleged that waste soil from the Nangang C4 construction site in Taipei had been dumped at the Keelung plant. About 7,600 cubic meters of soil sat on the site, and the newly elected mayor, Hsieh Kuo-liang, led city departments on an inspection. The company then said it had bought fertile soil to improve soil quality, but a drone check by reporters found the piles still in place and overgrown with weeds.
Taipei city councilor Yang Chih-tou filed a complaint with the Taipei District Prosecutors Office about three years ago, and the case is still under investigation. The company said the Nangang case and the Keelung soil purchase are two separate matters. The report noted, however, that the company has not clearly explained why soil bought three years ago remains or why it lobbied the city before any decision.
City opposition and the company's response
The report said that in June deputy general manager Huang Jui-chen met Deputy Mayor Fang Ding-an and raised the soil-site idea; the city said a data center was preferable and asked for a fuller plan. In July the company submitted a plan titled Taiwan Fertilizer Keelung Plant Asset Revitalization and Industrial Park Establishment. City officials questioned the soil sources because the Tianliao River has not been dredged in years, and some asked privately whether the aim was to turn soil that cannot leave the site from illegal to legal.
Deputy general manager Chung Chun-ming replied that there is no approved development plan and that these are preliminary ideas under feasibility study. Residents said the plant is closed yet heavily guarded, with large trucks seen entering by day. The report also carried personnel allegations, but these were presented as a reader's claims and are unverified.
