Our ‘good neighbor’ Formosa Plastics: petrochemical damage(s) and the meanings of money

ABSTRACT

Through its chronic pollution and recurrent explosions, the petrochemical industry is the source of constant damage for fenceline communities. Measures that might prevent or correct this damage are postponed with a local flow of money, a situation viewed through the prism of the different levels of damage, from chronic pollution to cancers and explosions. This article analyzes how a collective lawsuit launched against a petrochemical complex in Taiwan is challenging this economy. Formosa Plastics, the owner of the petrochemical complex, is one of the world’s largest chemical companies. Its ‘good neighbor’ policy includes a mix of political corruption, patronage care services and regular cash payments. Based on a four-year observation and in-depth interviews with the plaintiffs and other local sources, this article draws on the sociology of money to examine the ambiguous role of compensation in disputes over environmental and public health damage. I show that the search for justice and compensation nourishes a range of expectations. This includes, in proportion to the scope of the damage, a moral condemnation of the polluters and the prevention of further harm, in addition to economic assistance.

KEYWORDS:

• Industrial hazards
• fenceline communities
• environmental health
• compensation
• sociology of money
• class action

Acknowledgements

Professors C.C. Chan and Jui-hua Chen, attorney Thomas Chan and his colleagues Aslan Hung and Shu-fang Huang welcomed and encouraged me in this research. I also owe many thanks to Brother Wu, Hao-chung Chan, Robin Yuan-ho Huang and Ming-yi Wu for their help and generosity. My research assistants Chia-shuo Tang, Chee-Wei Ying, Fei-hsin Chang, Shih-hao Jheng and Yi-ying Tsai aided in conducting and transcribing interviews. Pei-Yi Hsieh and Hung-yang Lin offered further notes and transcriptions. Discussions with Wenling Tu, Kanlin Hsu, Xavier Sun, Yanling Ting and other participants of the Citizen Platform on Formosa’s Sixth Naphtha Cracker proved quite fruitful. Precious comments from Pascal Marichalar, Laura Centemeri, Sezin Topçu, and Rebecca Fite, and invaluable suggestions from two anonymous reviewers and editor Stewart Lockie greatly helped to improve the initial manuscript. Shih-hao Jheng made the maps with QGIS software, an open source Geographic Information System.

Disclosure statement

The author reports no potential conflict of interest.

Notes

1. Ministry of Economic Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan), 16 January 2012.

2. Interview with Ms. Wu and her daughter, Taisi, 16 August 2016. See also (Tu, Shih, and Tsai 2014; Lin 2019).

3. Interview with Mr. Lin Zh-C, Taisi, 1 September 2017.

4. Interview with Mr. and Ms. Lin C., Taisi, 20 May 2016.

5. Actually, as I was making the final corrections to this article on 15 July 2020, another explosion occurred at the plant, causing a giant fire.

6. Interview with Mr. Ding, Mailiao, 30 August 2019.

7. Family of Mr. Lin C. First Interview on 20 May 2016.

8. Interview with Mr. Huang, August 2016.

9. Interview with Mr. Wu TJ, Taipei, 6 September 2016.

10. Interview with Ms. Wu and her daughter, Taisi, 16 August 2016.

11. Interview with Ding and Wu MY, Mailiao, 30 August 2019. A previous informant, Wu SL (Mailiao 22 March 2016) estimated regular employees around 10,000, and contract workers, between 10,000 and 20,000. The company does not disclose such data.

12. Interview with Lin X. and his mother, Taisi, 20 May 2016.

13. Interview with Mr. Lin ZC, Taisi, 19 May 2016.

14. Interview with Mr. Ding, Taisi, 20 May 2016.

15. Interview with Wu MY, Mailiao, 30 August 2019.

16. Interview with Ms. Wu her daughter, Taisi, 16 August 2016.

17. Interview with three union members, Taisi, 1 September 2017.

18. Sanjie weiwen are a sort of bonus offered by some companies for the main holidays (the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Chinese New Year).

19. Defendant lawyer Wu, Yunlin District Court, 1 August 2017.

20. Interview with Mr. Wu WJ, Taipei, 16 December 2017.

21. Discussion with Wu Ri-hui in Taisi, 24 November 2017.

22. Discussion with Wu Ri-hui in Taipei, 27 August 2018.

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Paul Jobin

Paul Jobin is an Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica, in Taiwan. His research focuses on environmental issues in Asia, particularly Taiwan and Japan. Recent publications include a contribution to Critical Zones, edited by Bruno Latour & Peter Weibel (MIT Press) and the co-edited book Environmental Movements and Politics of the Asian Anthropocene, forthcoming at ISEAS (Singapore).