Prosecuted HD Hyundai Oilbank: "Discharging Industrial Water to Affiliates Is Not Illegal"

Direct Refutation of Prosecutor's Claims
"Will Clarify in Trial"

HD Hyundai Oilbank stated regarding the prosecution investigation into the discharge of industrial water at the Daesan plant, "This matter concerns the 'reuse of industrial water due to water shortage'." They added, "There was no intentional illegality, and no actual environmental pollution occurred."

On the 11th, HD Hyundai Oilbank released a statement asserting, "We plan to clarify the facts through future trials."

The Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office Joint Special Investigation Team on Environmental Crimes (led by Environmental Crime Investigation Chief Eo In-seong) indicted former HD Hyundai Oilbank CEO A and seven others, along with the Hyundai Oilbank corporation, on charges of violating the Water Environment Conservation Act. The prosecution alleges that HD Hyundai Oilbank discharged wastewater containing phenol and phenol compounds from its Daesan plant to affiliated company factories.

HD Hyundai Oilbank explained, "We transported recycled water, from which impurities had been removed from already used industrial water, through closed piping to affiliated company facilities within the Daesan plant for use," and "We discharged the final wastewater according to legal standards through prevention facilities."

They further denied the prosecution's claim that phenol compounds, pollutants, were emitted into the atmosphere during the industrial water recycling process causing air pollution. HD Hyundai Oilbank stated, "Because large amounts of caustic soda and zeolite catalysts added during the cooling process neutralize phenol into sodium phenolate or adsorb phenol, the possibility of phenol compounds evaporating into the atmosphere included in exhaust gases is very low."

HD Hyundai Oilbank Refinery Plant Panorama

They added, "In fact, after the prosecution raised concerns, three measurements conducted in December last year detected no phenol compounds in the exhaust gases from this facility," and "As we possess wastewater treatment facilities that perfectly treat to ensure no phenol compounds are detected in the final discharged water, there is absolutely no reason for us to emit phenol compounds into the atmosphere."

HD Hyundai Oilbank said, "We have been recycling industrial water without any issues, but recognizing that there is no established Supreme Court interpretation or judgment regarding industrial water recycling between adjacent affiliates, we voluntarily reported the matter," and "We have actively cooperated with the Ministry of Environment's investigation and the prosecution's inquiry, which have lasted over a year." They emphasized that strictly regulating industrial water recycling solely because the entities are different corporations is a prime example of a regulation that should be dismantled.

According to the prosecution's investigation results, from October 2019 to November 2021, 330,000 tons of wastewater containing phenol and phenol compounds discharged from the Daesan plant's wastewater discharge facilities were sent to the subsidiary Hyundai OCI's factory. From October 2016 to November 2021, phenol wastewater was also discharged to the subsidiary Hyundai Chemical's factory. From June 2017 to October 2022, 1.3 million tons of phenol-contaminated water from the Daesan plant was evaporated through the factory's gas scrubbing facility chimney without passing through prevention facilities.

The prosecution judged that while treating the initially produced wastewater within permissible discharge standards and reusing it was lawful, sending untreated 'raw wastewater' to other facilities for reuse constituted illegal discharge.

The prosecution also found that vapor generated from reused wastewater used as cooling water leaked outside. Under the Water Environment Conservation Act and its enforcement regulations, the permissible limits for phenol and phenol compounds are 1 mg/L for phenol and 3 mg/L for phenol compounds. Wastewater discharged from HD Hyundai Oilbank's wastewater discharge facilities was investigated to contain up to 2.5 mg/L of phenol and up to 38 mg/L of phenol compounds.

The prosecution concluded that HD Hyundai Oilbank illegally discharged wastewater to save approximately 45 billion KRW in costs for constructing a new wastewater treatment plant and to reduce industrial water supply costs for its subsidiaries.

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