[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] It has been revealed that illegal activities by manufacturers of foam extinguishing agents and related companies in Gyeonggi Province are severe.
Foam extinguishing agents are substances that can extinguish fires by covering the fire surface with foam to block oxygen in the air. Accordingly, foam extinguishing facilities that mix foam extinguishing agents and water at a certain ratio must be mandatorily installed at large-scale hazardous material handling facilities such as oil depots and thermal power plants for early fire suppression.
The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare announced on the 2nd that from May to August, they inspected 84 companies in the province, including foam extinguishing agent manufacturers, tank manufacturers, and foam extinguishing facility construction and supervision companies, and detected 31 cases of illegal activities at 25 companies, leading to criminal charges.
The types of violations detected include ▲use of non-compliant agents (15 cases) ▲contracting and business violations (6 cases) ▲unauthorized hazardous materials (4 cases) ▲blocking of fire facilities (3 cases) ▲tank inspection omissions (2 cases) ▲illegal distribution of agents (1 case), etc.
In a major violation case, foam extinguishing agent manufacturer Company G was caught distributing 5,040 liters of illegal extinguishing agents without product inspection. In particular, the illegally shipped extinguishing agents left no transaction records to verify the distribution route, and investigations are ongoing targeting related personnel.
Company N, which handles hazardous materials such as alcohols, was found to have installed a 'water-based film foam' extinguishing agent unsuitable for 'alcohols and water-soluble hazardous materials.' It was confirmed that water-based film foam has no extinguishing effect on alcohol hazardous materials (100 liters of ethanol) and significantly reduced extinguishing effect on water-soluble hazardous materials (100 liters of acrylic acid).
Company D was investigated for blocking the agent tank valve and control panel switch of the foam extinguishing facility, leaving it in a non-functional state during a fire.
Additionally, 15 cases of using non-compliant extinguishing agents were ordered to be immediately replaced with compliant agents, and three cases involving failure to report hazardous material item changes and negligence of fire safety managers were fined.
Under the current 'Firefighting Facilities Act,' distributing foam extinguishing agents and tanks without product inspection is punishable by imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million KRW. Also, using non-compliant extinguishing agents without extinguishing effect results in imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million KRW under the 'Firefighting Facilities Construction Act.' Furthermore, blocking firefighting facilities and leaving extinguishing facilities inoperable is punishable by imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million KRW under the 'Firefighting Facilities Act.'
Yoon Tae-wan, head of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare, emphasized, "Through this investigation, we identified blind spots in foam extinguishing agents installed at hazardous material facilities. If uninspected or ineffective extinguishing agents are distributed and installed, the damage will directly affect the residents. We will continue investigations until illegal activities that threaten public life and safety are eradicated."
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