What Is the Secret Behind Yeongdeungpo-gu's 50% Reduction in Fine Dust?

In Response to November Last Year’s ‘Yeongdeungpo Newspaper’ Resident Petition, Fine Dust Monitoring Station Relocated... Air Quality Greatly Improved Compared to Last Year... Seoul Autonomous District Rises 16 Ranks from Lowest to 9th... Achievements in Fine Dust Reduction Measures Including Installation of Dust Collectors and Operation of Water Sprinkler Trucks in Mullae-dong

Fine Dust Measurement Station Located on the Rooftop of Woori Bank Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Branch

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Yeongdeungpo-gu (District Mayor Chae Hyun-il) has achieved a 50% reduction in fine dust measurement levels within the district this year as a result of relocating the fine dust monitoring station last year and implementing various fine dust reduction measures.

The rooftop of the Dangsan 1-dong Community Center, where the original fine dust monitoring station was located, is surrounded by a food alley densely packed with various grilled meat specialty restaurants, which significantly affected the air quality measurement results.

Consequently, a petition titled “Request for the Prompt Relocation of Yeongdeungpo-gu Fine Dust Monitoring Station” was posted on the citizen petition corner “Yeongdeungpo Sinmungo,” where the district mayor personally responds, gaining the support of 1,019 residents. The voices of residents wanting the monitoring station relocated grew louder day by day.

In response, to provide residents with more accurate fine dust levels in the air, the district accepted the residents’ relocation requests and moved the fine dust monitoring station in November last year to the rooftop of the Woori Bank Yeongdeungpo-gu Office branch building, its current location. The relocated station began normal operation in December last year.

Additionally, the district conducted a survey of local residents last year and, reflecting their opinions, designated the Mullae-dong area (Mullae-dong 1 to 4 ga district, 1㎢) as a fine dust safe zone (intensive management zone) in cooperation with Seoul City starting January this year, initiating systematic fine dust management.

To reduce fine dust, the district has supplied dust collectors to small-scale metal processing businesses in Mullae-dong and conducted thorough inspections of air emission facilities.

In particular, recently, the district has been performing watering operations four times daily on narrow streets densely packed with small businesses using water spraying trucks, doing its utmost to alleviate fine dust concentration in the air.

As a result, the fine dust concentration measurement values have significantly improved.

Looking at the measurement results, last year before relocating the fine dust monitoring station, the fine dust concentration was the highest among Seoul’s autonomous districts. However, this year, after starting measurements at the new location, the district ranked 9th out of 25 Seoul districts, entering the upper tier in air quality.

The average fine dust measurement value improved greatly from 46 last year to 27 this year, roughly half the previous level.

Chae Hyun-il, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, stated, “The steps toward a sustainable and environmentally friendly city, Yeongdeungpo-gu, have just begun,” and added, “We will accelerate fine dust reduction projects so that residents can feel the changes.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.