State Held Accountable for Aircraft Noise
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
A local court has acknowledged the state's responsibility for aircraft noise at Gwangju Airport, ordering it to pay 21.5 billion won in compensation to nearby residents.
The ruling is expected to affect seven other similar suits filed by other residents. It is also likely to rekindle the controversy over whether to relocate the airport, which is used for both civil and military purposes.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of the 13,936 residents near the airport, Wednesday, and ordered the state to pay them 21.5 billion won ($15.4 million). It accepted the plaintiffs' demand that compensation should be made for regions where the WECPNL (weighted equivalent continuous perceived noise level) is more than 80. WECPNL is a unit for aircraft noise level.
According to a Ministry of Environment's report in 2007, Gwangju's noise level was 86 WECPNL, more than the 80 standard, which categorizes a region as an area where damage from noise is expected. One of the villages in the region recorded 91 WECPNL, the highest in the nation.
The residents filed the suit in 2005, claiming that the noise has weakened their hearing ability, disturbed sleep, and damaged children's growth and their educational environment. A total of 31,025 residents initially took part in the suit, but the court classified only 13,963 plaintiffs among them whose homes were exposed to more than 80 WECPNL of noise.
Seven similar suits, with 26,900 plaintiffs, are pending at the Gwangju District Court. If the court recognizes their damage claims as well, the compensation may reach tens of billions of won. A residents' committee against the noise plans to file another lawsuit for some 13,000 residents who did not participate in previous suits.
Following the ruling, the committee demanded the state relocate the airport.
The government categorizes a region with 90 WECPNL as an area damaged by noise pollution and sets up relocation or soundproofing measures according to recommendations by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
``We estimate the number of people suffering from noise at 200,000. We urge the airport authority to relocate the airport as soon as possible,'' the committee said in the statement.
In other regions, local courts have adopted the 80 WECPNL as the criterion on deciding whether to compensate residents.
People living near an air force base in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, won 12.7 billion won in a compensation suit in January last year.
Another group of residents near Daegu Airport were awarded 36.9 billion won last September.
The noise levels in both cases were over 80 WECPNL.