In the City Center, More Incineration of 'Odorous Waste'? Gijang County Mayor's Solo Protest at Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office

County Governor Oh Gyuseok: Absolutely No Approval for Medical Waste Incineration Plant Expansion and Modification

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Oh Gyu-seok, the mayor of Gijang-gun, Busan, held a solo protest against the approval of the expansion of medical waste disposal facilities in the area.

Mayor Oh staged a one-person protest at 3 p.m. on the 1st in front of the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office in Changwon City, opposing the approval of the capacity expansion of the incineration facility of NC Medi Co., Ltd., a medical waste intermediate disposal company located in Yongsu-ri, Jeonggwan-eup.

Mayor Oh urged that the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office must never accept the approval for the capacity expansion change of NC Medi Co., Ltd.'s medical waste incineration facility.

According to Gijang-gun, the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office, despite knowing that about 100,000 people would settle in Jeonggwan New Town due to the designation of Jeonggwan Residential Development District in 1997, newly approved a medical waste incineration facility in 2005, which has caused adverse effects on the residential environment such as odors.

The Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office is the licensing authority for medical waste intermediate disposal businesses and is responsible for all management related to waste companies. However, Gijang-gun has no authority over company management and supervision, so even if waste-related laws are violated, it cannot take effective measures.

On March 16, officials including the mayor of Gijang-gun visited the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office, the supervisory agency, to protest and deliver residents' opinions opposing the incinerator expansion and strongly requested the rejection of the incinerator expansion change permit.

Following this, Mayor Oh reiterated his opposition to the expansion through a solo protest on the same day.

Mayor Oh stated, “We have established an integrated environmental control center with a budget of 1.5 billion won to monitor environmental issues such as odors within Gijang-gun,” and added, “The expansion of incineration capacity will worsen the problem and nullify Gijang-gun’s efforts, which is an irresponsible act.”

He also emphasized, “The Ministry of Environment and the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office must take full responsibility for all incidents that may occur thereafter,” and “They must seriously heed the warnings and anger of the residents of Gijang-gun.”

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