Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Crack Down on 6 Illegal Wastewater Discharge Sites

Illegal Discharge Cases at Wastewater Discharging Facilities

Gyeonggi Province has uncovered numerous companies violating relevant laws by installing illegal discharge pipes and unlawfully releasing approximately 370 tons of livestock manure onto nearby land.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare announced on the 28th that from July 17 to 28, they conducted a focused crackdown on 81 wastewater discharge sites in northern Gyeonggi and detected six illegal cases at six locations.

Among the major cases, Farm A in northern Gyeonggi was caught after installing illegal discharge pipes without obtaining a permit for discharge facility installation from authorities since August 2022, discharging about 370 tons of livestock manure onto adjacent land without channeling it into treatment facilities.

Scrap yard B is accused of spilling approximately 50 liters of waste oil into a public water body, a stream, after accidentally knocking over a drum containing waste oil during repair work.

Laundry company C was caught during this crackdown for falsifying operation logs: although the water volume measured by the water cumulative flow meter, which checks if wastewater is discharged beyond a certain amount, was 46,698㎥, the operation log was falsely recorded as 46,592㎥.

Under the current Livestock Manure Act, anyone who installs pipes to illegally discharge livestock manure without a permit for discharge facility installation faces imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million KRW. Under the Water Environment Conservation Act, those who negligently or grossly negligently discharge designated waste such as waste oil into public water bodies face imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million KRW. Falsifying measurement results of measuring devices incurs a fine of up to 3 million KRW.

Hong Eun-gi, head of the Special Judicial Police Unit of the province, stated, "We hope to raise awareness among companies illegally handling wastewater and livestock manure and encourage proper treatment." He added, "We will do our best to prevent environmental pollution through continuous crackdowns in cooperation with city and county governments."