"Contrary to Seoul City Investigation, 'Excessive Fluoride Detected'"
On the 21st, Mapo-gu, Seoul, held a press conference condemning the excessive detection of fluoride at the planned waste incineration site and clearly expressed opposition to the installation of the incineration plant. (Photo by Mapo-gu)
Seoul's Mapo-gu, selected as the prospective site for a new metropolitan resource recovery facility (waste incineration plant), has clearly expressed its opposition to the installation of the waste incineration plant following administrative actions such as demanding a detailed soil investigation from the responsible parties, Seoul Metropolitan Government and Korea Midland Power Co. It criticized Seoul, which finalized Sangam-dong as the site for the waste incineration plant last month based on soil contamination survey results, stating, "We can no longer trust Seoul Metropolitan Government."
On the morning of the 21st, Park Gang-su, the head of Mapo-gu Office, held a press conference at the government building and said, "The soil contamination survey results for the new incineration plant site in Mapo-gu and other areas within the district where hazardous substances are expected were quite shocking," adding, "For decades, we firmly believed Seoul's announcement that there were no problems with the environment around the incineration plant, but it is as if we have been stabbed in the foot by the very axe we trusted."
On the 28th of last month, Mapo-gu conducted its own investigation of seven locations including Korea Midland Power Seoul Power Headquarters (formerly Danginri Power Plant), the Culture Storage Base (formerly Oil Storage Base), the fuel cell power plant, and the prospective site for the Sangam-dong waste incineration plant, all of which were confirmed to have contaminated soil.
In particular, according to the survey commissioned by Mapo-gu, among eight survey points within 300 meters of the prospective waste incineration plant site, fluorine exceeding up to 195% of the standard was detected at seven points except one, sparking controversy. Additionally, soil contamination tests conducted on three areas of the Danginri Power Plant detected fluorine levels of 406 mg/kg, 517 mg/kg, and 491 mg/kg, exceeding the soil contamination concern standard of 400 mg/kg in two areas.
Initially, Seoul's investigation showed that soil contaminants such as fluorine were within standard limits, and based on these results, Seoul finalized and announced Sangam-dong in Mapo-gu as the site for the new incineration plant. However, the results from the professional agency commissioned by Mapo-gu significantly exceeded the standards, raising concerns.
A banner opposing the installation of a waste incineration plant is hung on the outer wall of Mapo District Office. (Photo by Minjin Kim enter@)
Mayor Park stated, "Seoul's claim that there was no problem with soil contamination at the planned incineration site has ultimately been proven false," and argued, "Seoul must stop its incineration-dependent policy, which lacks both justification and benefit, and make a fundamental shift to waste policies that improve the performance of existing incinerators and reduce the overall amount of waste, as Mapo-gu has repeatedly proposed."
Separately from opposing the construction of the new incineration plant, the district notified Seoul Metropolitan Government and Korea Midland Power on the 18th about the detailed soil investigation and plans to take strong follow-up measures such as cleanup orders under the 'Soil Environment Conservation Act' after the detailed soil investigation.
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