Yeongsangang Regional Environmental Office Catches Daeyang Paperboard for Illegal Wastewater Discharge

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office (Director Ryu Yeon-gi) announced on the 29th that it conducted an on-site inspection of Daeyang Paperboard Co., Ltd., which was suspected of unauthorized wastewater discharge, from the 18th to the 22nd, and detected three cases of unauthorized wastewater discharge.

This inspection followed a first on-site inspection by Jangseong County, the local government with jurisdiction, prompted by a press conference held by the Daeyang Paperboard labor union alleging "unauthorized wastewater discharge by the company" and multiple media reports. Due to the urgency of the unauthorized wastewater discharge issue and the need for a detailed on-site inspection, the Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office conducted a second on-site inspection.

The violations included one case of unauthorized wastewater discharge, one case of installation and operation of an unreported air emission facility, and one case of installation and operation of an unreported waste treatment facility, totaling three cases.

In particular, regarding the unauthorized wastewater discharge, based on the received report, the inspection confirmed that around May 2019, a total of 3 tons of wastewater were illegally discharged in three instances onto the paper scrap piles at the paper scrap collection site. This constitutes grounds for suspension of operations.

Furthermore, to thoroughly resolve the raised suspicions, the office introduced an inspection method that scientifically estimates the amount of unauthorized discharge by calculating the facility’s water usage, wastewater recycling volume, amount of wastewater treatment sludge generated, and moisture evaporation volume. This process is currently ongoing, and additional unannounced inspections will be conducted to verify unauthorized wastewater discharge on-site.

If any of the detected violations require judicial action, the degree of violation will be investigated and referred to the competent prosecution office. For administrative penalties such as fines, the relevant local government will be notified to ensure immediate corrective measures.

Ryu Yeon-gi, Director of the Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office, stated, “Unauthorized wastewater discharge is a serious illegal act that pollutes rivers, which are the lifeblood of local residents, causing widespread and severe environmental damage. We will handle this case strictly and strengthen environmental monitoring and enforcement to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future.”

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