Busan Gijang County Mayor Oh Gyuseok Protests in Rain at Nakdonggang Basin Environmental Office ... Opposes 5-Fold Expansion Permit for NC Medi Medical Waste Incineration Capacity

"Authority to Initiate Urban Planning Facility Decisions Belongs to Us... Nakdonggang Basin Environmental Office, No Pass for Gijang-gun"

Immediate Rejection Required for Expansion Permit Application in Jeonggwan-eup with High Resident Population

At 2:40 PM on the 20th, Oh Gyu-seok, the mayor of Gijang-gun, is holding a solo protest in the rain in front of the Nakdong River Environmental Office in Uichang-gu, Changwon-si. [Image source=Gijang-gun]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] “Even if it rains, the path must be taken.” Oh Gyuseok, the mayor of Busan’s Gijang-gun, has launched his third solo protest over the incineration of medical waste.

Mayor Oh held his third solo protest at 2:40 p.m. on the 20th in front of the Nakdong River Environmental Office in Uichang-gu, Changwon City, opposing the approval for NC Medi, a medical waste intermediate disposal company in Yongsu-ri, Jeonggwan-eup, to increase its incineration capacity by five times.

This protest took place in the rain, following previous protests on April 1 and May 7.

Mayor Oh stated, “Before approving NC Medi’s fivefold increase in daily incineration capacity, a city planning facility decision must be made first. The authority to initiate this decision lies with Gijang-gun, and we firmly reject the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office’s attempt to override this.”

He also asserted, “This area cannot accommodate a medical waste incineration facility with a daily capacity of 50 tons. The application for expansion and modification by NC Medi, which was submitted without prior city planning facility decision, must be immediately rejected.”

He warned that if the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office ignores legal procedures and forcibly grants conditional approval through irregular means, Gijang-gun will respond with civil and criminal actions, including requests for audits and injunction lawsuits, and that the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office will be held responsible for all ensuing consequences.

According to Gijang-gun, as early as 2017, residents from five towns and townships expressed to Gijang-gun that they could no longer accept medical waste incineration facilities, and have strongly demanded that existing medical waste incineration facilities be relocated to uninhabited mountainous or island areas outside the jurisdiction.

Mayor Oh emphasized that local politicians should unite their strength and wisdom to prevent the expansion of waste incineration plants, which only cause conflicts between regions and residents within the district.

Gijang-gun is preparing a task force team consisting of department heads to legally respond to the issue.

Residents of Jeonggwan-eup have also strongly opposed NC Medi’s fivefold increase in incineration capacity.

The Jeonggwan-eup Development Council has hung banners opposing the capacity increase throughout Jeonggwan and plans to hold protest demonstrations in front of the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office.

Since the 15th, signature campaigns have started in apartment complexes and various villages, and street petitions are also underway.

To block the incinerator expansion, Gijang-gun plans to inform related agencies?including the Blue House, Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Government Legislation, National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee, National Assembly members, Board of Audit and Inspection, Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, and Busan City?about the unfairness of the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office’s conditional approval policy that disregards legal procedures.

NC Medi submitted a modification permit application to the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office in April 2019 to increase its daily incineration capacity from the existing 9.8 tons to approximately 49.2 tons, about five times the current capacity, and is currently under review.

Within a 1 km radius of NC Medi, there are dozens of apartments, commercial facilities, daycare centers, kindergartens, and schools. The straight-line distance to the boundary of a nearby apartment site is only about 300 meters, causing Jeonggwan-eup residents to suffer from odors and air pollution.

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