[Exclusive] Residents Forced Into Danger by Boryeong Power Plant Truck Menace

High-Speed Coal Ash Transport Threatens Residents' Right to Safety in Ocheon and Jugyo

Power Plant: "Vehicles Are Fully Sealed and Operate Within Legal Boundaries"

Large construction vehicles entering and exiting Korea Midland Power's Boryeong Power Plant Headquarters are driving at high speeds or ignoring traffic signals on the one-lane one-way road. Residents passing through this area are complaining that they are risking their lives to walk along the roadway.

"Over the past 40 years, countless people have been killed or injured on this road because of large vehicles. Even when we desperately ask for traffic to be reduced at least during the busy farming season, neither the power plant nor the companies pay any attention."

Residents of Ocheon-myeon and Jugyo-myeon in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, are being forced onto what they call a "road of death" due to the constant flow of large vehicles traveling to and from the Boryeong Power Plant Headquarters of Korea Midland Power. The residents expressed their anger, saying the power plant continues to ignore decades of repeated traffic accidents and environmental damage.

According to the residents, the road leading to the power plant is a narrow, one-lane, one-way street, yet 25-ton dump trucks and coal ash transporters frequently speed and violate traffic signals.

Particularly, there is no sidewalk for pedestrians on this road, so residents are left with no choice but to walk on the roadway where large vehicles speed by.

There is also a complete lack of police enforcement.

Jo Jongpil, secretary general of the Jungang-ro Environmental Development Committee, appealed, "Since there is no sidewalk, residents are forced to risk their lives walking on the road. Accidents, both large and small, occur nonstop due to the speeding of these large vehicles."

He further claimed, "The covers on vehicles transporting coal ash are often inadequate, so dust is frequently scattered during transit. As a result, coal ash waste is blown into the air and goes straight into residents' noses and mouths."

In contrast, an official from the power plant headquarters dismissed the concerns, saying, "The claim that coal ash is being dispersed is a one-sided assertion by residents. Transport vehicles are moved in a completely sealed state and operate without any legal issues."

Residents criticized Boryeong Power Plant's irresponsible attitude by citing the case of the nearby Dangjin Thermal Power Plant. In Dangjin, recognizing the dangers of large vehicles, a new Route 38 was built between the power plant and Daesan to transport waste while avoiding residential areas.

Residents unanimously stress the urgent need to regulate vehicle traffic at least during the farming season, and, in the long term, to prepare measures that guarantee their safety.

There are growing calls that it is now time for the power plant and local authorities to respond to the demands for survival from residents who have endured this situation for 40 years.

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