Hyundai Engineering & Construction Cleans Dioxin-Contaminated Soil at US Return Base... First in Korea

Bupyeong 'Camp Market' Success After 2 Years and 11 Months

Incheon Bupyeong US military returned base 'Camp Market' cleaning construction site. (Provided by Hyundai Engineering & Construction)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] Hyundai Engineering & Construction has succeeded in cleaning up large-scale dioxin-contaminated soil within a U.S. military returned base for the first time in Korea.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction announced on the 30th that it completed the contaminated soil cleanup project for 11,031㎡ of the U.S. military returned base 'Camp Market' located in Bupyeong, Incheon, after 2 years and 11 months.

The Bupyeong Camp Market cleanup project was conducted in the heart of a densely populated residential area, raising citizens' concerns about dioxin exposure during the cleanup process.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction explained that to alleviate these concerns and safely remove dioxin, a first-class carcinogen, they used the 'heat rod thermal treatment method (IPTD)' and thermal oxidation process.

The IPTD method is an eco-friendly technique that uses a heating system to separate dioxin from the soil for purification. During the cleanup process, the possibility of dioxin dust and vapor being exposed to the outside is low.

By installing heating rods inside a soil mound made from the contaminated soil and heating the soil to 355 degrees Celsius, dioxin in the soil is extracted in vapor form. The extracted vapor then undergoes a thermal oxidation process in a thermal oxidation facility where it is exposed to high heat above 1000 degrees Celsius. Through this process, dioxin is completely oxidized, and only gas with harmless components is emitted.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction stated that through this method, they succeeded in reducing the dioxin concentration in the contaminated soil of Bupyeong Camp Market to 2.18 picograms (one trillionth of a gram), which is much lower than the cleanup target of 100 picograms.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction has a track record including the contaminated soil washing project at an unsanitary landfill in Gwangju in 2001, the contaminated soil cleanup project on the Gyeongbu Expressway, and the soil cleanup project at Janghang Smelter.

A Hyundai Engineering & Construction official said, "Since this was the first large-scale project in Korea to clean soil contaminated with dioxin, there were concerns, but we achieved perfect cleanup without contamination damage," adding, "Based on this achievement, we plan to actively enter projects to restore contaminated environments."

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