Exclusive Did Suwon City Spread 'Carcinogenic Substances'?..."Possibility exists"

Questions have been raised about whether Suwon City's facility modernization construction project may have influenced groundwater contamination spread at the Suwon Agricultural and Fisheries Products Wholesale Market.

According to Suwon City and other sources on the 7th, the city ordered the Agricultural Technology Center to submit a groundwater contamination assessment report in December 2018 after groundwater contamination was confirmed at the Agricultural and Fisheries Products Wholesale Market site in 2018.

The assessment targeted the Agricultural and Fisheries Products Wholesale Market site and surrounding areas. In the subsequently prepared work directive, groundwater observation wells were to be installed to investigate groundwater flow and hydraulic characteristics, while assessing contamination status and risk and establishing contamination prevention measures.

During the groundwater contamination assessment, the facility modernization construction project proceeded in parallel.

Phase 2 of the facility modernization project began construction on March 11, 2019, and contaminated soil cleanup and verification work in the construction section was reportedly initiated on May 27 the same year. In the facility modernization project implementation schedule disclosed by Suwon City, the groundwater contamination assessment completion date is recorded as August 31 the same year.

During construction, excavation was carried out to a depth of 7.5 meters underground. At the 356th Suwon City Council Urban Environment Committee administrative audit in November 2020, when then-councilmember Moon Byung-geun asked about the excavation depth during the construction of the agricultural and fisheries products wholesale market, a city official responded, "We excavated 7.5m."

The situation of operating a water pump at the construction site was also raised at the administrative audit at that time. Councilmember Moon presented construction site video and asked, "How did you handle the groundwater that came out at that time?" and argued that water was pumped out using a pump. A city official explained the water as stemming from heavy rain or water occurring during the rainy season.

The excavation depth corresponds to the previously surveyed groundwater level. The groundwater level confirmed by (Foundation) Gyeonggi Environmental Science Institute in October 2018 at three groundwater sampling points within the market was 7 to 9.3 meters underground.

When asked whether large-scale excavation work to 7.5 meters underground at this groundwater level would generally result in groundwater pumping, the Institute responded, "Yes, that is our understanding."

The contamination spread direction also differed from the investigated groundwater flow. The Institute determined that the contamination range expansion direction shown in 2016 and 2023 surveys did not match the direction of the investigated groundwater flow.

While the Institute acknowledged it could not identify the exact cause, it suggested the possibility that artificial activities such as discharged groundwater or large-capacity well pumping affected the surrounding groundwater system, creating unnaturally sustained flow toward the northeast of the surveyed area over a long period and spreading contamination.

In particular, in response to a court fact inquiry asking whether there was a possibility of changed groundwater flow and contamination spread under the premise that large quantities of groundwater were pumped during the modernization project and no other artificial activities occurred in the surrounding area, the Institute responded, "Yes, there is a possibility."

Concerns about contamination spread extended to areas surrounding the Agricultural and Fisheries Products Wholesale Market. In the consultation content disclosed during the 2020 Suwon City Council administrative audit, a plan was included to conduct detailed investigation of soil and groundwater at three sites where oil contamination had been an issue, including a nearby gas station, and then conduct joint remediation. The content also included provisions that if additional contamination were confirmed at the nearby gas station site, Suwon City would remediate that portion as well.

Suwon City denies the possibility that the modernization project construction affected groundwater flow.

A Suwon City official stated, "(During the modernization project) the excavation work did not reach the groundwater depth" and "Since there is a significant difference between the groundwater flow depth and the excavation depth, it is impossible for excavation work to impact groundwater flow."