Suwon City Conducts Guidance and Inspections of 'Designated Soil Contamination Management' Facilities

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Suwon City is conducting guidance and inspections of 'designated soil contamination management' facilities to prevent soil contamination accidents.

The city plans to inspect all designated soil contamination management facilities within the jurisdiction from next month through October. The inspection facilities include 129 gas stations, 12 industrial facilities, and 7 heating facilities, for a total of 148 facilities.

Designated soil contamination management facilities refer to petroleum storage facilities such as petroleum manufacturing facilities and gas stations, as well as oil pipeline facilities.

An inspection team comprised of city officials, including the head of the Soil and Groundwater Team of Suwon City, will inspect ▲whether designated management facilities have been registered for installation (modification) and records are properly preserved ▲whether soil contamination prevention facilities are installed and properly managed ▲whether corrective measures for contaminated soil are being appropriately implemented.

The inspection team will verify compliance with notification requirements for changes to designated soil contamination management facilities and implementation of soil contamination testing (contamination level and leakage testing) and preservation of results before conducting thorough facility inspections. It will also verify implementation of detailed soil surveys and contaminated soil remediation.

For facilities where problems are found, relevant regulations will be explained and administrative guidance provided. If improvements are not made during the guidance period, fines will be imposed and legal action will be taken.

Failure to submit a change notification will result in a fine of up to 1 million won, and failure to implement soil contamination testing or detailed surveys will result in a fine of up to 2 million won. Facilities that fail to comply with remediation orders will be referred for prosecution.

A city official stated, "We will conduct intensive inspections of business sites where soil contamination accidents have previously occurred and those with anticipated complaints," and "We will proactively respond and prevent soil contamination accidents."