Seoul City Conducts Special Surveillance on Environmental Pollution Acts During Chuseok Holiday, Including Unauthorized Wastewater Discharge

From the 21st, Level 2 Monitoring Implemented Before and During the Holiday Period

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will designate the period from the 21st of this month to the 4th of next month as the "Special Monitoring Period for Environmental Pollution Acts" ahead of the Chuseok holiday, conducting special monitoring activities on approximately 1,797 pollution-related facilities and major rivers.

First, in the first phase until the 29th of this month before the Chuseok holiday, a total of 47 public officials from each autonomous district and the Han River Project Headquarters will be organized into 24 teams to focus on inspecting whether pollution prevention facilities are operating normally at 234 key sites subject to strict control of pollutant emissions. The targets for control include facilities discharging wastewater in Seoul, such as those emitting highly toxic wastewater like dyeing and plating, large-volume wastewater dischargers, and companies handling chemical substances and organic solvents.

Additionally, to encourage voluntary participation, cooperation letters will be sent to individual businesses such as car washes that discharge wastewater, enabling them to conduct self-inspections of their pollutant discharge facilities. Previously, during the Lunar New Year holiday, among 1,860 wastewater discharging businesses, two were found violating related regulations through special inspections and were subjected to suspension of operations and legal action.

In the second phase, from September 30 to October 4 during the holiday period, an "Environmental Pollution Reporting Center" will be intensively deployed to carry out thorough monitoring activities. Even during the holiday, Seoul will establish and operate the Seoul Comprehensive Situation Room and situation rooms for each autonomous district to prepare for environmental pollution accidents, and related systems will be set up to enable rapid response in case of emergencies.

Furthermore, patrol teams will be organized to monitor rivers at risk of pollution, conducting patrol activities simultaneously. These teams will focus on water source areas, areas around factories, and rivers at risk of pollution, receiving reports of environmental pollution acts such as illegal wastewater discharge. Violations such as illegal wastewater discharge are punishable by imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million won.

Kim Jae-gyeom, Director of the Water Circulation Policy Division of Seoul, stated, "To prevent environmental pollution accidents during the Chuseok holiday, it is necessary to strengthen special monitoring and for citizens to actively cooperate by reporting environmental pollution acts and conducting voluntary inspections of pollutant discharge facilities." He urged, "Citizens who discover environmental pollution actsare requested to report them to Seoul's Dasan Call Center at 120 and the Government Integrated Civil Service at 110."

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