Naju City Submits Appeal to Court in Administrative Lawsuit over 'SRF Usage Permit'

[Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] Naju City in Jeollanam-do expressed regret over the first trial court's ruling related to the administrative lawsuit to cancel the usage permit of the SRF combined heat and power plant's Solid Refuse Fuel (SRF) and announced on the 14th that it submitted an appeal to the court on the 13th.

On the same day, the city issued a statement in the name of Mayor Yoon Byung-tae, expressing regret over the court's decision, calling it a "decision that overlooked the residents' right to health."

In the statement, the city said, "The quality issue of solid fuel is an important matter that can affect the health of citizens," and added, "To secure the citizens' right to health, we have submitted an appeal to receive the court's judgment once again."

Earlier, on the 25th of last month, the Gwangju District Court ruled in favor of the Korea District Heating Corporation in a lawsuit filed against Naju City, which sought to cancel the usage permit of the solid refuse fuel product, stating "the cancellation order is canceled."

This lawsuit was filed by the Heating Corporation after Naju City canceled the usage permit on October 18 of last year for SRF that was judged to be non-compliant in quality inspection results.

The court, in its first trial ruling, found insufficient evidence to recognize that the usage report was made by false or fraudulent means.

Additionally, the court judged that immediately canceling the usage permit without measures such as improvement orders for a single instance of substandard quality was illegal as it constituted an abuse and deviation of discretionary power.

In response, the city explained, "The Heating Corporation applied for the usage permit for the solid refuse fuel product knowing there were quality issues," and "Last year, since quality problems occurred in the stored solid fuel, the usage permit was canceled according to relevant laws."

It added, "Not all fundamental problems related to SRF can be resolved through litigation alone," and "We will continue to make every effort to reach a final solution through consultations with related organizations including Gwangju City and the Heating Corporation."

Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong baekok@asiae.co.kr

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