Regulations for petrochemical pipelines passed by Kaohsiung city council

23-May-15

The Kaohsiung City Council has passed two regulations requiring companies with industrial pipelines under the roads of Kaohsiung to move their headquarters to the southern port city by the end of 2016 or risk losing access to the pipelines, as per focustaiwan.tw. The city council passed "Rules on Existing Industrial Pipelines" and "Rules on Environmental Maintenance" with a majority vote. Besides moving their headquarters, the regulations stipulate that the 13 enterprises which own underground pipelines in the city need to submit a maintenance plan and pay pipeline maintenance inspection fees every year. The regulations also stipulate that pipelines which had suffered serious safety accidents in the past will not be allowed to be used anymore. The rules need the Cabinet's consent to take effect. According to the Kaohsiung City government, there are 89 underground petroleum pipelines in the city, with the total length of 1298.68 kilometers. The pipelines are owned by 13 enterprises and are used to transport raw petroleum products including ethylene, propylene and benzene. Only three of the 13 enterprises - Formosa Petrochemical Corp., LCY Chemical Corp. and Grand Pacific Petrochemical Corp. - are headquartered in Kaohsiung.