Uiryeong County Council Launches Investigation into Illegal Waste Landfilling

The Uiryeong County Council in Gyeongnam recently exercised its administrative investigation authority regarding the illegal landfill of waste within the jurisdiction that had caused controversy.

According to the Uiryeong County Council on the 27th, the administrative investigation to examine issues such as the illegal landfill of waste at Dongsan Park Cemetery located in Burim-myeon, Uiryeong, was approved on the 24th with unanimous consent from all 8 attending members out of 10 total members.

The Uiryeong County Council in Gyeongnam approved the administrative audit on illegal waste disposal.

The special committee is composed of 7 members with Councilor Oh Min-ja as the chairperson and will operate until March 31.

In June of last year, the county council received a verification request from the Nakdong River Environmental Monitoring Group regarding the landfill of untreated waste at Dongsan Park in Burim-myeon. Upon investigation, it was found that approximately 25 tons of recycled soil (about 200 dump truck loads) were illegally landfilled by Company A in the mountainous valley area of Gyeongsan-ri, Burim-myeon.

As a result of two rounds of waste composition tests, 12 out of 22 soil contamination test items were detected. Although 11 items were below the standard values, zinc (1751.6 mg/kg) was detected at about 2.9 times the standard limit of 600 mg/kg, indicating that the recycled soil or recycled aggregate could not be considered as properly treated construction waste.

Uiryeong County requested a police investigation, issued an order for restoration to the original state, and requested a reinvestigation.

However, Company A has not complied with the restoration order and has filed an administrative appeal.

The special committee plans to investigate the circumstances and actual conditions of the illegal landfill of waste at Dongsan Park Cemetery, as well as the administrative guidance, supervision, and handling results related to the matter.