Gyeonggi-do Health and Environment Research Institute, Soil Pollution Survey at 305 Sites in the Province

Gyeonggi Province is launching a soil contamination survey.

The Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment announced on the 26th that it will conduct a 2024 soil contamination survey targeting areas of concern for soil pollution, including sites with accident-related complaints, from May to October.

The survey covers a total of 305 locations, including the site of the water pollution accident and fire at Gwanricheon in Yanggam-myeon, Hwaseong-si. Among these, 202 sites, accounting for 66.2%, are key pollution sources such as industrial complexes, factory areas, and traffic-related facilities.

Notably, this year's survey includes 21 points where the concentrations of heavy metals and fluorine exceeded 70% of the soil contamination concern standards, or other pollutants exceeded 40%, based on last year's soil contamination survey. Additionally, investigations will be conducted in residential areas around industrial complexes, groundwater contamination zones, and factory wastewater inflow areas.

Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment

The survey involves excavating and sampling both surface and deep soil layers to analyze a total of 23 soil contaminants, including heavy metals, petroleum, and organic solvents, with immediate notification to the respective city or county.

For areas exceeding soil contamination concern standards, the local governments will take administrative actions such as detailed investigations and soil remediation orders to require landowners to restore contaminated soil. The survey results will be verified and statistically analyzed by the National Institute of Environmental Research and then published on the Soil and Groundwater Information System (https://sgis.nier.go.kr) operated by the Ministry of Environment.

Kwon Bo-yeon, director of the Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment, stated, "The soil contamination survey is an important project to prevent soil pollution in advance and to proactively manage soil contamination. We will strive to create a safe soil environment through reliable and accurate contamination testing."

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