POSCO industrial accident pollutes soil and water; poisons residents

Barrage of perished shellfishes lie on a beach in Gangwon City, South Korea, where a hazardous industrial leak from a factory has polluted soil and underwater. Nearby residents were also found to be infected.

By Joel Lee, Jin Yong-jun

An industrial accident by a South Korean steel-making company that leaked hazardous chemicals into the soil and underwater was found to have infected residents living nearby. Environmental watchdogs are demanding the company to properly carry decontamination works and cover medical check-ups.

Large volumes of phenol, benzene, xylene, TPH and other toxic chemicals leaked from POSCO company’s magnesium smelting factory in Gangneung City, Gangwon Province between April and June of last year.

According to investigated findings commissioned by POSCO, total area affected was 32,000 square meters; contaminated soil depth was between 2 and 15 meters. In particular, phenol was found to exceed the level of natural intake by 480 times; TPH 190 times.

One of the affected citizens, a woman surnamed Kim, 58, was recently found to be poisoned by phenol in two urine sample tests administered at Kangbuk Samsung Medical Center in northern Seoul. The tests found over four times the level that can be absorbed by humans naturally in everyday life at 86mg/gCr (20mg/gCr).

Kim is assumed to have been exposed while farming on her plot without prior knowledge of the leak. Five other people are reportedly still farming in the vicinity.

Phenol, also known as carbolic acid, can cause skin diseases or burns if repeatedly exposed to the skin; inhalation of phenol vapor can cause lung problems as well as damaging the central nervous system, heart, liver and kidneys. It is also corrosive to the eyes and the respiratory tract.

Scientists pointed to the accident as the culprit behind the mysterious perish of shellfishes that appeared in the nearby sea in late July of last year.

To clean up the area and prevent it from further spreading, POSCO set up a barrier wall surrounding the site. However, number of experts including Prof Park Chang-geun of Catholic Kwandong University say the areas outside the cordoned-off field are contaminated 15,000 times the natural level.

Environmental watchdog, ‘Friends of the Earth Korea,’ said the extent of contamination far exceeds the level announced by POSCO, and that an accurate survey is critically needed. They also called for the banning on farming and conducting medical investigation of residents.

POSCO announced its plan to carry decontamination works over the soil and underground water for the next 4 to 11 years, but has not addressed on issues of compensation or medical examination.