Environmental disaster looming

Hasty, shoddy burial of animals expected to contaminate soil, water

By Kim Tae-jong

More than 3 million animals have been culled and buried to contain further spread of the food-and-mouth disease (FMD), devastating the nation’s livestock industry. But the worst has yet to come: a catastrophic environmental aftermath.

Experts and government officials warned that the burials of pigs and cows at more than 4,000 sites across the nation ― mostly done hastily without proper environmental consideration ― would backfire as many of the burial sites are feared to collapse amid thawing weather.

The National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS) has slaughtered over 3 million animals as part of quarantine operations with most of them buried underground following the first outbreak of the epidemic in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, in late November.

However, North Gyeongsang Provincial Government and the Ministry of Environment said Monday many burial sites in FDM-hit areas are at the risk of collapsing and being swept away due to the warmer weather, which can result in massive environmental pollution to the soil and water in the vicinity.

“At the moment, it’s hard to predict what damage the burial sites will cause economically, socially, and culturally. We have never buried so many animals in such small areas,” Environment Minister Lee Man-eui was quoted as saying by ministry officials. “I’m worried that it could be the worst environmental disaster that we have ever experienced.”

Reburial of animals

Central and local government officials have conducted on-site inspections of 993 burial sites in North Gyeongsang Province and 61 sites have been found to risk causing contamination of the soil and water in the region.

Worse, the number of hazardous sites will go much higher when including burial sites nationwide, they said.

The environment ministry attributed the main cause of such risks to the poor selection and management of the sites, as the burial of animals was conducted in a hasty manner.

The authorities said the slaughtered animals were buried in a 4-5 meter-deep hole covered by two-fold vinyl to keep anything from leaking out. In principle, animals should be killed before burial and burial sites should be far from underground water to prevent contamination.

But such rules were frequently violated to deal with the speedy spread of the disease, outpacing the authorities’ slaughter capacity. Animals were buried in mountain slopes and areas near streams or water reservoirs.

The environment minister said more accurate research should be conducted on all the burial sites to examine possible negative repercussions before the spring and all necessary steps should be taken to counter them.

The quarantine authorities also admitted the buried animals could contaminate water resources and the soil around the burial sites and vowed to apply stricter procedures in quarantine operations.

The authorities are vaccinating all cows and pigs to minimize the burial of animals as the conventional quarantine efforts of mass culling turned out to be ineffective.

Experts also warn that the buried animals will soon decay, of which polluted material will gradually soak into the ground and inevitably contaminate underground water reservoirs and even streams, a major source of drinking water.

“We should monitor the burial sites. As it gets warmer, more underground water will run and the earth will defrost, which will easily be contaminated by the buried and decaying animals,” said Jun Kwan-soo, professor of Environmental Engineering at Yeungnam University. “We need to consider the reburial of animals if necessary and the use of tank trucks to collect the polluted water.”