Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Crack Down on 11 Sites for Illegal Industrial Wastewater Discharge

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has identified 11 business sites that engaged in illegal activities such as unauthorized discharge of industrial wastewater.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police announced on the 7th that from the 1st to the 14th of last month, they conducted inspections targeting 60 wastewater discharge sites near the Osan, Jinwi, and Anseongcheon water systems, as well as locations with numerous environmental pollution complaints, and found 11 sites violating regulations.

According to major violations, Company A, an ink and coating manufacturer located in Pyeongtaek, did not report its wastewater discharge facilities after storing and treating wastewater generated from washing empty drums following the mixing process of coating agents and water (groundwater).

Company B, a polishing, glass coating, and car wash business located in Suwon, was caught during this inspection for unauthorized discharge of car wash wastewater without water pollution prevention facilities.

Company C, an electronics and telecommunications product manufacturer located in Hwaseong, was found to have discharged 1.2 cubic meters of wastewater containing specific water quality hazardous substances (copper 0.133 mg/L, antimony 0.254 mg/L) into a stormwater pipe without passing through prevention facilities.

Under the current Water Environment Conservation Act, failure to report wastewater discharge facilities or improper operation of wastewater discharge or prevention facilities is punishable by imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million KRW.

Additionally, discharging or dumping specific water quality hazardous substances into public water bodies is punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to 30 million KRW.

The provincial special judicial police emphasized that illegal discharge of industrial wastewater causes serious damage to the ecosystems of public water bodies such as rivers and urged residents to actively report such violations.

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