Having made little progress in defusing the anger of Mailiao Township residents, Premier Wu Den-yih said Monday that their concerns triggered by fires at a nearby petrochemical complex could be resolved using methods to settle public hazard disputes. A public hazard dispute settlement commission should be formed if the private Formosa Petrochemical Corp. fails to reach an agreement with local residents on pollution and damage caused by fires at the company's petrochemical complex in the Yunlin County township last month, Wu said. County chief 'Su Chih-fen should head the commission based on the law, ' Wu added, while talking about the latest accident at the complex, which was the second of its kind in July. The fire, which broke out on July 25, reportedly caused serious air pollution that people living in the the nearby area claimed has jeopardized their health and caused great damage to coastal fish ponds in downwind areas. Wu reiterated that all relevant governmental agencies, including the county's environmental protection bureau, quickly took measures to handle the accident. He said he himself ordered the oil refinery that was hit by the fire to cease operations at once, referring to his meeting with Su and Formosa Petrochemical executives July 30. He also requested the company to compensate local residents for their losses and pay for health checkups. The measures, however, failed to ease the anger of Mailiao residents, who blasted the oil refinery and petrochemical complex for having caused harm to public safety. The complex is home to over 60 factories and facilities including three oil refineries, three naphtha crackers, a co-generation plant, a thermal power plant and the Mailiao Industrial Harbor. Members of a township self-help organization staged a protest outside the front gate of the complex Sunday evening, calling for the complex to stop operations entirely for safety checks. The activists also asked for the company to pay for local residents' health care that is not covered by the National Health Insurance system. 