By Na Jeong-ju
Three local builders are under investigation for allegedly dumping waste while conducting a joint project to expand a U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.
Pyeongtaek City Council said Tuesday it has filed a complaint with police against the three builders, including SK Engineering & Construction and GS Engineering & Construction, after its inspection team discovered several tons of construction waste buried in nearby villages.
“We detected various kinds of heavy metals including cadmium and nickel at the sites. In farmland, 17.14 milligrams of cadmium, four times the permitted levels, were found,” a city spokesman said. “Such metals can pose great health risks for residents living in and around the contaminated area.”
The city began the inspection after a subcontractor revealed in September that the builders had secretly dumped waste from construction sites inside the military base.
The city council also formed a fact-finding committee including experts from the private sector as outraged residents demanded a full-scale investigation.
The firms deny the claims.
One official from SK said some 130,000 tons of construction waste were collected from the U.S. base and they have been appropriately handled in accordance with the law.
The city said it will conduct additional on-site inspections in the coming weeks to gather more evidence.
“We need to excavate the land believed to be polluted with the waste even if owners don’t want such a measure. That’s because the waste can destroy the environment,” said Im Seung-geun, vice chairman of the city council. “We believe we will be able to discover more waste buried in the community during the planned inspections and get more scientific data showing contamination levels.”
Pyeongtaek said it has collected several tons of concrete debris, wire, lumber and used tires that were buried in the villages.
An environmental institute under the jurisdiction of Gyeonggi Province conducted its own probe and concluded that the materials didn’t have any harmful impact on the environment.
Councilors from Pyeongtaek, however, raised allegations that such a conclusion was based on limited sample tests, calling for a re-investigation by the institute.
“Signs of an oil leak were even found on farmland where the waste was buried and people could smell it. The institute’s inspection results are not understandable,” councilor Kim Ki-sung said.