Seoul City Conducts Special Crackdown on 4,572 Sites for Illegal Wastewater Discharge Amid Heavy Rainfall...

Special Crackdown Conducted in July-August
On-site Inspection Team Conducts Unannounced Checks on Discharged Wastewater Quality... Strict Measures Including Business Closure for Violations

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 30th that it will conduct special crackdowns on businesses discharging environmental pollutants from July 1 through August to preemptively block various illegal environmental pollution acts, such as the unauthorized discharge of toxic wastewater during the monsoon season's heavy rains.

The targets include ?businesses discharging toxic wastewater such as dyeing, leather, and plating industries ?waste discharge and treatment businesses that significantly impact river water quality and air pollution when pollutants are discharged without authorization. A total of 4,572 locations in Seoul fall under this category.

The special crackdown will be carried out by on-site inspection teams composed of two people per autonomous district. Sudden inspections and checks will be conducted on businesses discharging toxic wastewater such as dyeing, leather, and plating industries. Inspectors will collect samples of discharged wastewater and send them to the Seoul Institute of Health and Environment for testing compliance with legal discharge standards, and verify whether wastewater treatment facilities are operating properly. Additionally, in preparation for the possibility of pollutants being washed away with rainwater during rainfall, they will also check whether waste is being stored appropriately.

The city will impose strong administrative measures such as suspension or closure of operations under the Water Environment Conservation Act on businesses that intentionally and habitually discharge toxic wastewater without authorization. To raise awareness among violating businesses, the violation details will also be disclosed on the respective autonomous district websites. Furthermore, for businesses whose environmental pollution prevention facilities such as filtration devices, dust collection devices, and adsorption facilities are damaged due to heavy rains, the city will utilize professional personnel from the ‘Seoul Green Environment Support Center’ to restore facilities and provide technical consultations.

Prior to this special inspection, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has been conducting promotional and guidance activities to enable the 4,572 businesses discharging environmental pollutants to perform self-inspections. Additionally, the city operates a ‘Citizen Autonomous Environmental Monitoring Group’ composed of 52 citizens and public officials to patrol river surroundings intensively, and actively utilizes the ‘Reward System for Reporting’ which offers up to 3 million won for reports of environmental pollution acts, aiming to detect and crack down on illegal environmental pollution activities.

Meanwhile, as a result of cracking down on 494 businesses discharging environmental pollutants during last summer, Seoul identified a total of 17 illegal acts including unauthorized businesses and completed dispositions such as prosecutions.

Kim Jae-gyeom, Director of the Water Circulation Policy Division of Seoul, said, “If toxic wastewater is discharged into rivers without authorization during the summer heavy rains, it takes a lot of time and cost to restore water quality. We ask businesses to recognize the importance of the environment themselves and make efforts to prevent environmental pollution.”

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