Gijang-gun Wins Final Verdict Against Medical Waste Incineration Odor Emission Facility in Jeonggwan New Town

Gijang County Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] After a legal battle with Company A, a medical waste incineration company in Jeonggwan New Town, Gijang-gun, Gijang-gun ultimately won the final ruling at the Supreme Court.

Although Gijang-gun won the court case against Company A in November last year, the final ruling was delayed as Company A did not accept the verdict and filed an appeal.

The Supreme Court dismissed Company A’s appeal without trial, clearly stating that the reasons for the appeal were unfounded, resulting in Gijang-gun’s final victory.

Within a 1 km radius of Company A, the medical waste incineration company, there are dozens of apartments, commercial facilities, daycare centers, kindergartens, and elementary, middle, and high schools.

The plan to expand the capacity of the existing incineration facility had also sparked opposition from local residents.

Gijang-gun issued improvement recommendations and designated and announced Company A as a subject facility for odor emission facility reporting after odor complaints persisted for over a year and the composite odor concentration exceeded the emission limit more than three times.

Company A filed a lawsuit against Gijang-gun, claiming that “the measurement method used by Gijang-gun is not objective and the odor may have originated from other businesses or factories.”

The first trial court ruled in favor of Gijang-gun, stating, “There is no evidence to suggest that the odor from other businesses moved to Company A, and the method of measuring the odor is considered objective.”

The second trial court ruled in favor of Company A, stating, “The inspection results are not objective due to procedural defects in the odor sample collection method.”

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gijang-gun, stating, “It is difficult to conclude that Gijang-gun’s sample collection method violated procedures, and the lower court did not sufficiently examine factors such as weather conditions at the time of sample collection, weather conditions in the sample collection area, and the influence of surrounding businesses,” and remanded the case to the Busan High Court.

Gijang-gun won the case at the High Court’s retrial after the annulment of the designation and announcement disposition, but Company A filed an appeal, delaying the final ruling schedule.

On the 11th, the Supreme Court dismissed Company A’s appeal without trial, resulting in a final victory after a long legal battle with Company A that began on August 23, 2019.

Accordingly, Gijang-gun plans to re-designate and announce Company A as a subject facility for odor emission facility reporting.

From the date of designation and announcement, Company A must establish an odor prevention plan within six months and submit a report on the installation of odor emission facilities to the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office, and take necessary odor prevention measures within one year.

If Company A fails to comply with these measures, the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office can impose strong administrative sanctions (order to suspend use) under Article 13 of the Odor Prevention Act.

An official from the Gijang-gun Environmental Integrated Control Center said, “We patrol the site more than three times a day and monitor the concentration of emitted environmental pollutants 24 hours a day regarding Company A,” adding, “If any unusual matters occur, we plan to take immediate action on-site to prevent pollutant emissions.”

A county official added, “Now that Company A can be re-designated and announced as an odor emission facility, we will impose strict administrative sanctions if the odor concentration exceeds the emission limit to further improve the living environment of Jeonggwan-eup residents.”