Near the Planned Substation Installation Site
Seoul's Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Lee Pil-hyung), caught in a conflict over the location of substations for the metropolitan wide-area express railroads (GTX) B and C lines, installed an emergency on-site civil complaint office made of containers near the planned substation site on the 25th.
Dongdaemun-gu stated, "There is strong opposition from residents against relocating the substation," and added, "The on-site civil complaint office was installed symbolically to join the residents' will and to express the district office's opposition." Mayor Lee Pil-hyung and responsible officials visited the emergency on-site civil complaint office that morning to meet and discuss with residents opposing the substation installation.
The container installed by the district office displays banners with red letters reading "Emergency On-site Civil Complaint Office for Substation Relocation," "Strongly Urge Substation Relocation," "Absolutely Oppose High-Voltage Substation Installation," and "Oppose Substation Installation with Our Lives."
Dongdaemun-gu's firm stance on the substation installation issue is interpreted as a response to the recent Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) inviting reporters to the Maehyun Substation in Yangjae-dong to emphasize the harmlessness of urban railway transformers to human health.
On the 21st, MOLIT and the Korea Rail Network Authority visited the underground 4th floor Maehyun Substation at Yangjae Citizen's Forest Station with the press corps and demonstrated electromagnetic field (EMF) measurements beside the transformer and on the ground. The measurements showed 2.8 to 3.0 microteslas (μT) right next to the transformer, 0.2 μT at a point 50 meters away, and 0.04 μT at ground level (25 meters above).
In the on-site comparison demonstration, the EMF levels were lower than those of a hairdryer (16 μT) and a microwave oven (38 μT). MOLIT stated, "Cancellation of the project is not under consideration, and we are consulting with local governments including Dongdaemun-gu."
However, residents' opposition remains strong. The planned ultra-high voltage substation site is within 40 meters of public daycare centers, large apartment complexes such as Cheongnyangni Station Lotte Castle SKY-L65, and surrounded by parks and main roads, making it incomparable to the location of Maehyun Substation. Additionally, procedural issues such as insufficient public opinion gathering have been continuously raised.
Meanwhile, related to this, Dongdaemun-gu sent an official letter to MOLIT on the 10th of last month requesting the cancellation and relocation of the GTX-C line substation and vertical shaft near Cheongnyangni Station. The environmental impact assessment and public opinion gathering by the GTX-C construction company and MOLIT were conducted around August to September last year, before residents of adjacent apartments fully moved in, resulting in insufficient collection of residents' opinions. Furthermore, at the residents' briefing session in April, there was no satisfactory explanation regarding the risks and safety of the substation.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
