Residents United Against Expansion of Gimhae Samgye Tochejang: "Health Impact Assessment for Residents Must Come First"

The Bukbu-dong Residents' Countermeasure Committee held a press conference opposing the additional expansion of the Samgye Excavation Site in Gimhae-si, Gyeongnam. / Photo by Ryeong Lee ryeong@

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Se-ryeong] Residents of Bukbu-dong area in Gimhae-si, Gyeongnam, have opposed the additional expansion of the Samgye Soil Quarry.

The Bukbu-dong Residents' Countermeasure Committee Against the Additional Expansion of Samgye Soil Quarry held a press conference at the Gyeongnam Provincial Government press room on the 17th, demanding a health impact survey on residents due to the existing quarry development.

According to the committee, the Samgye Soil Quarry expansion project, developing quarries in Samgye-dong and Hallim-myeon areas, has been promoted, expanding from the existing 213,929㎡ to 317,438㎡.

Within a 3 km radius of the existing development area, about 80,000 residents of Bukbu-dong live.

The committee stated, “After reviewing the draft environmental impact assessment, it was found that additional quarry development would destroy the ecological corridor belonging to Baekdudaegan, causing severe damage such as blasting noise, vibration, stone dust, greenhouse gas emissions, temperature rise, and landslides within a 3 km radius. However, the company’s response was merely a formal answer promising to implement mitigation measures,” criticizing the response.

They mentioned the Sangdusan quarry development project in Jeongeup-si, Jeonbuk, saying, “In February, Jeongeup-si denied approval for an expansion of 75,255㎡,” and explained, “Since last October until the end of this year, a study is being conducted on residents within 1 km to investigate the causal relationship between quarry development and diseases.”

They added, “The Samgye Soil Quarry project is about four times larger than the Jeongeup project and is being carried out near a densely populated area,” and “If the mountain is cut down due to development, the odor from nearby Hallim-myeon livestock farms and industrial complexes carried by the wind could cause damage to Bukbu-dong, but no investigation has been conducted on this.”

Residents said, “There is a large apartment complex less than five minutes away from the densely packed factory area below the previously developed site, and another apartment is being built even closer,” adding, “It is too close to escape the damage caused by additional quarry development.”

They appealed to Gyeongnam Province, the approval authority, Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office, the coordinating agency, and Gimhae City, the location, saying, “Before proceeding with the expansion project, a health impact survey on residents must be conducted to verify whether health rights are infringed due to stone dust, airborne dust, and particulate matter.”

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